All That's Left Are Ashes
by FireBlaze401
Summary: Modern AU. Gray Fullbuster is the young president of Fairy Tail Corporation. Such success often comes with a price. When an attempt on his life is made, his friends hire a bodyguard for him. Will this bodyguard succeed in guarding the young president's life? And will something more blossom from the two's relationship? Eventual NatsuxGray
1. Gray Fullbuster

**I give up T-T. I was debating on posting this up when I was finished (which will not be for a long time) or posting it up now but I guess now won out. So... here's Project #2! Please keep in mind that this isn't at the top of my priority list right now (The Times After That is) nor is this fic actually finished like Heavenly Vengeance was so updates here are going to be** ** _extremely_** **erratic. That said, enjoy the first chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

"Gray! Hold the door!" Lucy shouted as she ran to catch up with her boss. Gray smiled and held the door to the elevator open while taking a sip of his ice water. It was Monday morning and while Lucy always tried her best to be on time for work, she always seemed to have difficulty on Mondays. She huffed as she leaned against the wall of the elevator and Gray closed the door with a smile. He patted his childhood friend on her back as she regained her breath.

"You ok, Luce? Do you have something against Mondays or something?" he teased. Lucy pouted as she looked up.

"You're so mean Gray! Mou, you're as cold as the water you're drinking! Speaking of which, how can you drink that every morning?!" she demanded. It always boggled her mind that her raven haired boss could stand cold foods without a problem. She had never even heard of him getting brain freeze. Gray grinned as he leaned against the wall.

"It doesn't bother me. And maybe I wouldn't be so 'mean', as you like to call me, if you weren't so easy to tease." At that, Gray received a blunt blow to the top of his head. Rubbing his head, he turned, annoyed, to his older brother who had been in the elevator the whole time, only to be ignored in the face of the two friends. Lyon grumbled as he retracted his clipboard.

"Gray, I've told you a thousand times not to be so familiar with your subordinates! You're their boss for god's sake! They won't respect you if you're so friendly to them!" Gray shot Lyon an irate look.

"Just because you're three years older than me, doesn't mean you have to treat me like I'm a child, Lyon. Besides, work hasn't started yet, so right now I'm not her boss." Lyon scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"You're 24, Gray. You're still a child. And you are still her boss whether or not you are at work." Lucy laughed when her boss pouted childishly, only proving Lyon's point further. The two brothers glared at each other for a while when a pleasant ding was heard and Lucy adjusted her blazer.

"This is my stop. Big Scary President, come stop by Human Resources if you have time! We could have lunch together!" she invited enthusiastically. Gray grinned and nodded. Lyon huffed as the door closed and left the two alone. The elevator rose slowly and without much noise. Lyon sighed.

"When are you going to take your position seriously, Gray? I know it's not my place to tell you what to do, but I'm just trying to look out for you," the senior executive vice president said. Gray frowned as he crossed his arms, careful of his beverage.

"I _am_ taking it seriously Lyon. I know you don't like how I run this place, but you're just going to have to live with it. Ur entrusted this company to me after all." With another ding, the elevator doors opened once again and Lyon centered his green tie before grabbing his suitcase and stepping out without a word of farewell.

* * *

Gray ran his free hand through his messy raven hair. He had inherited the toy company, Fairy Tail Corporation when his adoptive mother, Ur Milkovich died six years ago. In her will, she explicitly stated that she wanted Gray to take over the company when he was eligible. Of course, something like that wasn't normally allowed but the Chairman, Makarov Dreyar, had been more than willing to abide by Ur's wishes. They were close friends after all. At first, everyone was shocked. Gray had been 17 at the time; way too young to even start thinking about becoming a president of a company. He himself had doubted that he would ever be the president of such an esteemed company. Yet here he was, riding the elevator to the top floor, where his office was.

He sighed as the doors opened and he grabbed the suitcase that he had left on the floor. He threw his cup away and yawned. Taking a quick glance at the clock on the wall, he decided that it was too early in the morning. Begrudgingly, Gray dragged himself down the hallway, bidding tired "Good mornings" to whoever he passed. Pulling out his ID card, he swiped it in front of the sensor and heard the latch for the door click and release. He slowly pulled the door open, only to be greeted by his flustered and angry secretary.

"Gray! You're late! It's 7:30! Where have you been?" Levy asked. Gray raised a hand in apology and yawned.

"Sorry, Levy. My bed was just so comfortable this morning..." The petite woman pouted before pushing Gray towards his desk.

"Come on! You have a lot of work to do! Did you forget about the board meeting you have this afternoon?" Crap. He had forgotten all about it. Now he was awake. Shaking off the last bits of his grogginess, he logged on to his computer. Without turning away from the screen, he asked,

"What's my schedule for today?" Levy looked down and checked over her notes.

"Let's see... you have to attend a meeting with our finance department at 10, human resources wanted to talk to you about firing someone, Senior Executive Vice President Vastia has to talk to you about something important and then there's the board meeting a reminded you about. Not to mention the ton of work you have organising Fantasia." Gray sighed and felt his grogginess return full force. He slumped onto his desk. Fantasia was one of Fairy Tail Corp's biggest promotional events. The employees would all perform for the city using Fairy Tail Corp toys. Each year, it was a huge success. But each year, it was a pain in the ass to organise. Gray sighed.

"Is there any way I could just sleep instead of work?" he asked. Levy gave him a forced smile.

"No can do, boss. Now get working!" Gray sighed but began to open up his email and read over everything that he had been sent to him over the weekend. He grumbled as he skimmed the first one and began to type out a reply.

* * *

Gray groaned as he grabbed the iced cappuccino that Levy had gotten for him and made his way to the door. It was 9:45 and he had to get to the meeting early. He fixed his blue tie and motioned for Levy to follow. She hastily locked her computer and grabbed her clipboard before falling into step beside Gray.

"What did the finance department want to talk about?" Levy scanned her sheets and shook her head exasperatedly.

"They're just complaining that they don't have enough money again, for whatever reasons." Gray groaned and rubbed a finger to his temple. This was going to be a long meeting. The sweet ding of the elevator signaled the beginning of his torture.

* * *

 **Short chapter, I know. I'm fairly sure the next one will be longer. Who knows. This fic is going to be relatively long, or at least that's how I'm envisioning it. Well... see you next time, whenever that is. Leave me a review if you have time! ^^**


	2. Karen Lilica

**Thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows! Here's chapter 2!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Gray moaned as he stomped out of the conference room, already feeling a headache coming on. He scowled and watched as Levy gave him a concerned look. He sighed and tried to smile at his secretary.

"Levy... could you go get me an aspirin please? Dealing with those idiots made my brain melt." Levy stifled a laugh at her boss before turning and leaving to find an aspirin for the poor man. Gray checked his watch. 11:30. He still had half an hour before his lunch break started. He made his way to the elevator again and watched as the numbers of the level the elevator was currently on light up in descending order. Just as the door slid open, Levy returned with a glass of water and a Tylenol. Gray accepted both gratefully and stepped into the elevator. He popped the pill into his mouth and downed the glass of water. Levy took the glass when he was done and began to brief him on his next meeting.

"Human resources wants to fire Karen Lilica, the head of the marketing team," she began. "Something about treating her coworkers disrespectfully. Someone even reported something about handcuffing her subordinates to their chairs." Gray raised an eyebrow. The elevator stopped and the pair stepped out and made their way to human resources.

"Levy-chan! What are you doing here?" a cheerful voice asked. Levy smiled.

"Lu-chan! Gray has a meeting here so I had to follow him to make sure he doesn't screw anything up," she giggled. Gray looked over to the two, a playful tick mark appearing on his forehead.

"Oi, Levy. Who said I was going to screw something up?" he demanded. His secretary smiled as she waved the topic aside. Gray grinned.

"To prove that I am totally capable, I'm going into that meeting myself. You can stay here and talk to Lucy," he said, turning to leave. Levy caught the glint in his eye before he left though. She smiled.

"Thanks, Gray!" Levy called after him. Lucy smiled as she watched Gray's retreating back as he searched for the correct office.

"We sure are lucky to have such a nice boss, aren't we Levy-chan?" she asked. Levy nodded in agreement. The two then switched the topic of their conversation to something else.

"Did you see that new book that came out a while ago?"

"The one by Reedus Jonah? No, I really want to read it though!"

* * *

Gray sat across from Loke Regulus, his best friend and head of human resources. The poor strawberry blond looked awful. Even with his tinted shades, they still couldn't hide the exhausted look in his eyes. Gray was concerned, for obvious reasons, but for now, he had to get to the bottom of this. Gray cleared his throat.

"Listen Loke, I know that this Karen person sounds really awful, but do you have any proof other than what Aries said? I can't do anything if I don't have actual proof." Loke raised his head and stood, looking absolutely furious.

"Are you saying that Aries isn't trustworthy?!" he demanded. Gray sighed.

"I'm not, but I need to consider everything. Look, if you can prove that Karen Lilica is really what you say she is then I won't hesitate to fire her." His best friend turned coldly to face him.

"Come with me then."

* * *

Gray followed Loke out of his office and out into an elevator. Levy had noticed her boss exit the office and had followed the two. Loke pushed the button for floor six. Gray noted this. _That's the marketing department floor..._ he thought. Loke exited the elevator in a hurry and Gray and Levy followed. Loke knelt in front of the entrance to the marketing conference room with an ear pressed to the door. Gray and Levy gave him disbelieving looks but knelt down in similar positions. Through the door, they could hear the sound of an enraged woman screaming.

"What do you think you're doing Aries?" the voice screeched. "This idea will never work! Honestly, how did you get hired? You're not good for anything. You should just quit." Gray felt his temper starting to rise and from the looks of it, Loke's as well. A meek voice that Gray recognised as Aries spoke up from behind the door.

"U-Umm... Karen-san, I really think that idea is..." A loud bang startled Aries as well as the three eavesdroppers outside. Karen had slammed her hands on the table.

"Aries, this idea is shit! It'll never work! Stop doubting me, you stupid little piece of shit!" The sound of ripping paper could be heard followed by a harsh slapping noise as well as the sound of teary whimpers. Outraged, Gray stood up abruptly. Levy looked up towards her boss and promptly stepped back. The look on Gray's face was terrifying and she had never seen her laid back, cool boss look so furious. The door slammed open to reveal Aries, with a red hand print on her cheek as well as Karen who was standing over the poor girl. Realising what an awful position she was in, Karen immediately backed away from Aries.

"Gray-shachou," she acknowledged, hoping to scrape together some sort of excuse for the situation she found herself in. "What are you doing here, sir?" Gray's eyes were hidden underneath his bangs. His teeth were clenched and his fists shook at his side.

"You know Lilica-san, there are many things that I can tolerate," he began. Levy and Loke shivered from out in the hall. Gray _never_ called his employees by their last name nor with the honorific "-san". He believed that they were all a family and therefore was on first name basis with all of them, not matter what their position. So the fact that he was addressing Karen as _Lilica-san_ spoke volumes for his anger. Karen gulped as Gray continued.

"I can tolerate a messy office. I can tolerate late work, to an extent of course. I can even tolerate our stupid financial department. But if there is one thing that I absolutely cannot forgive, it's people hurting my family!" Gray's voice grew in volume and the rest of the marketing team had poked their heads in, only to walk back out pretending they hadn't seen anything. They took one look at the scene in front of them and decided that they never wanted to make their boss angry. Gray growled as Karen seemed to shrink away from him. In a quiet voice filled with barely suppressed rage, he ordered,

"Clean out your office. You're fired."

* * *

"Levy get me an ice pack," Gray ordered as he sat next to Aries, who was still trembling from the impressive display of anger her boss had shown just moments earlier. Karen had left the room, almost in tears, just a few minutes ago. Levy nodded before setting down her clipboard and rushing to find an ice pack for Aries. Loke took a seat next to Gray. The raven said nothing and simply stared into his lap. This unnerved Aries and she stammered to get a word out.

"U-Umm..." Gray looked up. Aries met her boss' gaze and immediately brought her head down in apology.

"I'm sorry!" Gray cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"What are you sorry for?" he asked. Aries didn't look up and simply continued to stare at the floor.

"I...I caused trouble for you, President. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to come here!" Gray frowned and took one of Aries' hands in his. The pink haired girl looked up in surprise to find a gentle look in her boss' deep blue eyes. Gray smiled.

"It's no trouble at all. I would rather be 'troubled' as you like to say, than have it continue." Aries gulped and hiccupped, wiping away at tears that came from the immense relief of not having to deal with an abusive section leader anymore. Loke patted Aries' head gently as Levy came back with an ice pack and handed it to Aries. Gray leaned back in his chair.

"But this might be a problem... I need a new section head for the marketing team now..." Aries immediately jolted and bowed profusely towards her boss.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she repeated. Gray was a little taken back but regained his composure.

"I was kidding, Aries. Don't worry, it's no trouble. I already have someone in mind for the job." Aries looked up to find Gray looking at her with an implacable look. Gray grinned wholeheartedly, making him seem childish. Aries blushed a bit, noticing how cute her boss really was.

"How would you like to be the new marketing team head, Aries?" The girl's eyes grew wide as she did a double take to make sure she had heard correctly. Gray nodded with a grin and Aries felt tears prick the corner of her eyes but she didn't care. She dropped her ice pack and leaped forward and caught Gray in a hug. Gray smiled gently in return and patted her on her back. Loke and Levy watched the two with smiles on their faces.

Loke slung an arm over Gray's shoulders as the three made their way back down to the human resources department.

"Gray, thank you so much! To be honest, I didn't think you had the guts to fire her!" he laughed. Gray looked to his best friend in annoyance.

"If I see that that person is poisonous to the company, I'll fire them. It's as simple as that." Loke shook his head.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side. So? What's next for our President, Levy?" he asked. The petite girl smiled.

"Lunch with Lu-chan!" she reported. Loke raised an eyebrow as he let go of Gray and collected himself. He adjusted his yellow tie and mumbled something that Gray strained to hear. Gray leaned in closer and cupped his hand to his ear, teasing the man. Even though he hadn't heard what Loke had said, it didn't take a genius to figure it out. Everyone knew Loke had a crush on Lucy.

"Care to repeat that, Loke?" he asked, grinning. Loke scowled but repeated himself.

"I'm coming too. So you better wait for me!"

* * *

"Aah! That really hits the spot!" Lucy exclaimed as she took a sip of her caramel frappe. Gray stifled a laugh as he watched his friend relish in the sweet drink. He himself took a sip of his ice cappuccino and a bite of his hamburger. Levy munched on her salad while Loke forked spaghetti into his mouth. Lucy finished her curry and leaned in closer to Gray, making Gray blush and Loke red in the face.

"But really Gray, I didn't think you had it in you to fire anyone! You're always so nice. Well, except when you tease me, but that's different," she exclaimed. Gray scooted backwards in his seat and put his hands up in front of his face to put some space between him and the blonde.

"Back up, Lucy. And no, of course I can fire people…" he said. Levy cut in.

"Yeah, we all know you _can_ , Gray. But you _don't_. Most of the time, Lyon does it for you," she said. Loke snorted.

"Yeah, because it's his job. Honestly, I'm surprised he fired Karen himself." That made the two girls raise their eyebrows at Gray. Their boss shrunk back as he attempted to answer their silent questions.

"Well... Lyon already has his work to do and he's busy with Fantasia so I wanted to help him a bit?" he asked, his voice going higher as his statement transformed into a question. The group facepalmed.

"Gray! You have your own work to do so don't take Lyon's work too! You can barely handle your own! And don't think that I don't know about the extra things you do!" Levy shouted. While Gray looked bewildered that he had been found out, Loke nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, you're so stupid sometimes Gray." A tick mark appeared on the raven's forehead.

"Is that any way to talk to your boss?!" he demanded. Lucy smirked.

"I do recall someone saying this morning that when we're not at work, 'I'm not her boss'." Gray groaned and finished off his ice cappuccino. He checked his watch and saw that he had already been on lunch break for an hour. He jumped out of his seat.

"Shit! Levy, when am I supposed to meet with Lyon?" Levy calmly slurped her strawberry smoothie.

"1:10," she answered. Gray shivered. He was in serious trouble now. He bolted out of the food court and towards the closest exit. The three left behind watched in amusement. Lucy turned to her friend.

"Shouldn't you go with him, Levy-chan?" Levy shook her head.

"Vastia-fukushachou makes it a point not to have anyone intrude on their talks, so I get a longer lunch break than usual!" she grinned. Lucy smiled as did Loke. The three chatted for a while longer before Loke stood up and adjusted his red tie.

"Well... we have to be getting back too. Nice to see you Levy. C'mon Lucy, let's head back." Lucy wiped her mouth with a napkin before standing up and following Loke.

"Bye, Levy-chan! Come by H.R soon!"

* * *

"Phew. Now we're finally alone. I thought we'd never get a chance, Princess." Loke placed his arm around Lucy's slender waist and pulled her closer to him. Lucy blushed but leaned into the touch nonetheless.

"Idiot. You know someone's going to figure it out sooner or later. What's the point in acting as if we aren't in a relationship?" she asked. Loke hummed as he tried to put his thoughts into words.

"Let's see... I don't know how Gray would feel about me dating you, since you're his childhood friend and all. I'm the apparent big bad playboy after all," he grinned. Lucy smiled and playfully punched him in the chest. Loke feigned pain. "Oh, Princess, you're so cold! Maybe you've been spending too much time with Gray," he whined. Lucy turned away, a blush on her face.

"Shut up! We have work to do!" Loke grinned and pecked her on the cheek.

"Whatever you say, Princess."

* * *

Gray was, for lack of a better word, cowering before his older brother. It was one thing to be late, but another to be late and not have a clue as to what he was supposed to be talking about. Lyon's leather shoe tapped on the wooden floor impatiently as Gray searched his desk for any hint as to what he was supposed to be doing. He ran his hands through his hair. He should've made Levy come with him! When his papers next to his vase of roses fell off his desk and floated to the floor, Gray cursed and Lyon blew his casket.

"Gray!" he roared. Gray shrunk back, holding his keyboard in front of his face. He knew better than to argue with Lyon about company matters. If it were anything else, you could bet that he would be standing face to face with Lyon, arguing his ass off. Lyon sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you? It's the monthly progress report." Gray nodded and listened intently to Lyon's entire spiel. When his brother was done, Gray nodded before jotting down some quick notes.

"First, please do something about our idiot financial department. Those fools are going to be the death of you and me." Lyon nodded in agreement. "Next, I want something done about public appeal. Aries is the new head of the marketing team so I want you to work closely with her for the next little while. That's all, really." Lyon scribbled down a reminder to do so before turning to exit. Before he was out the door, he turned over his shoulder and looked at Gray and whispered to himself,

"Honestly... so childish."

* * *

 **Shachou- President**

 **Fukushachou- Senior Executive Vice President (that's such a mouthful)**

 **Those are from Wikipedia XD But they are real corporate titles used in Japanese companies!**

 **Also, super nice fanart that I found and suited this fic well! I wanted to use it as the cover image but it was drawn for someone so I decided not to. It's super great so have a look! w w w .** **nozue . tumblr post / 43241949715**

 **Anyway, that's all for this time! I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **P.S Chapters will take a long time because of school**


	3. Natsu Dragneel

**School is actually slaughtering me. I haven't written anything in like ages. I just cranked this out, so hopefully it's not garbage. I'm so sorry guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does!**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

"That's all we have for you today, Gray-kun," the vice chairman, Gildarts Clive said. Gray nodded. The meeting had been on for over two hours and the only thing he wanted was to go home. Before he could though, the chairman called him back.

"Gray-kun, stay. I would like to discuss something with you in private." Gray contained his sigh and turned to face the old man. Makarov smiled at him. He gestured to the seat directly across from him before mindlessly adjusting the white roses in the vase that was the centerpiece of the table. "Sit, Gray." Wordlessly, Gray obeyed. Makarov laughed at the boy's stiffness. "How many times have I told you, Gray? When it's just us, we don't need those fancy titles. I'm simply your family friend." Gray sighed.

"Even so Jii-san, I have to show respect to you..." Makarov made a face.

"You've been listening to Lyon again. Bah! That boy is too uptight. He'd work himself to his grave if he had the chance." Gray couldn't resist a tiny smile tugging at his lips. He knew that his grandfather figure was right. His brother really was a workaholic. Waving the thought aside, he focused on the matter at hand.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Jii-san?" The old man stood on the table, his short height making it so that he was just a little taller than Gray. His eyes softened as he took in the boy's tired appearance.

"Gray, you're still young. I know you're the president of a big company, but you still need time to yourself. Have you been resting adequately?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I have Jii-san." Makarov scoffed.

"That's not what the bags under your eyes say. Don't think I don't know what you do in your spare time." The raven gulped. Whoops.

"Honestly... it's not that I don't approve but you're going to run yourself ragged, dear boy. You need someone to rein you back when it's too much. Not Erza either. We all know how she can get. Really, you look like you're about to collapse. Gildarts noticed it too." Gray scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Makarov smiled at him. "Ever consider a relationship?" The young president backed up in his chair, a full blown blush on his face. Makarov laughed. Gray stood up, indignant.

"Jii-san! That's not very funny!" he muttered as he moved his gaze away from Makarov. The laughing stopped and Makarov's gaze softened.

"It wasn't a joke Gray. You need someone in your life that isn't related to work. Your friends are fine and all, but they wouldn't dare to cross you. You need someone else. Think about it. You're at that age where it's not unusual to be in a relationship." Gray looked down, his blush gone and a somber expression on his face.

"Jii-san... no one would want me. Not if they knew about me..." Makarov sighed. It was no surprise that this was the reason why Gray had never been in a relationship. It would still be a long time before he could forgive himself for what had happened all those years ago.

"Gray. There are many, many people in the world. There is most definitely someone out there who can see you for who you are. You'll see, Gray. And when you do, I hope you will forgive yourself. It wasn't your fault." Gray opened his mouth to retort but was beat to it when Makarov ushered him out of the conference room. "Think about it. No one can decide what you should do with your life. All I can do is make a suggestion." Gray watched as the door closed and he was left alone in the hallway with nothing but Makarov's words echoing in his mind.

* * *

When five o'clock rolled around, Gray was more than ready to leave. He turned his computer off and bade goodbye to Levy. He rushed into the elevator and watched excitedly as the flashing numbers became smaller and smaller. He met with Lyon on the ground floor and the two began to walk towards the train station.

"How was your day?" Lyon asked. Gray shrugged.

"Same old, same old. Yours?"

"Same as always. Except busier." The pair sighed. With Fantasia coming up in a month, there was no doubt that they were going to be swamped with work. A female voice spoke up from behind them.

"What's with those long faces?" The boys turned around and found them face to face with none other than Erza Scarlet. Gray smiled tiredly at her.

"Yo, Erza. Did your shift just end?" The redhead nodded.

"Such a boring day. I only made one arrest and that was because of Erigor." Lyon rolled his eyes.

"How many times is this now?" Erza shook her head.

"Don't even bother trying to count. That man has been arrested more times than there are weeks in a year." The three fell in sync as they bought their tickets and headed towards the platform. Erza turned to Gray.

"Have you considered what we talked about last time?" she asked. Gray flinched. Erza's eyes narrowed. Gray tried to placate her anger while Lyon and some passersby watched the scene curiously.

"N-Now Erza... you know I don't need one..." he stammered. The redhead glared and began to shout.

"You idiot! I told you! It doesn't matter if you can defend yourself, you should still have a bodyguard! Think about your position!" she raged. Gray wanted to protest but knew better than to speak when the great Erza was angry. He was saved from more yelling when the rumble of the approaching train interrupted Erza's rant. Erza glared at him before turning away and ignoring him. Gray sweatdropped. When the train stopped, they all went their separate ways. The rest of the night was relatively silent for Gray, as he had no plans for the night. Gray leaned back on his bed and closed his eyes. Maybe he should consider what Makarov said and try to find a lover. But where was he supposed to start? He had never even dated in high school. Gray sighed and closed his eyes. He would think about it in the morning. He fell asleep dreaming of last year's Fantasia celebration.

* * *

Gray dragged himself to his office the next morning. He really was not looking forward to the mound of work that was undoubtedly piled up on his desk. Sure enough, when he opened the door, stacks of paper and binders were on his desk. Gray sighed.

"Levy! Make sure no one bothers me!" he called. He heard his secretary answer and shut the door to his office. This was going to be a long day.

"Gray? Can I come in?" Lyon's voice asked through the door. Gray finished signing off on the last sheet of paper just as the door opened. He slumped over his desk and pouted. Lyon stifled a laugh and made his way over to his brother's side. "What's wrong with you?" Gray groaned into the desk.

"I haven't been out all day except to buy my lunch... I think I broke my wrist signing all those documents," he complained. But Lyon wasn't paying attention. He was looking around the room, a confused expression on his face. When Gray noticed the lack of response, he looked up. "What's wrong, Lyon?" Lyon furrowed his brow.

"Do you hear ticking?" Gray frowned.

"It's probably just the clock." Lyon shook his head.

"No... it's getting faster. Hear that?" Gray silenced himself and strained to hear. Sure enough, there were quick ticking noises, much too quick for a clock. Suddenly, Lyon's eyes widened in horror. "Gray watch out!" he screamed as he tackled Gray off the chair. Gray shouted in shock and watched as his chair exploded. The sprinklers and fire alarm were on immediately and Levy rushed into the room in a panic.

"Gray! Are you ok?! Gray!" The two boys coughed before Lyon all but dragged the two of them out the door. Levy rubbed circles around their backs as security stormed in. Gajeel, the head of security, made a beeline straight for the three on the floor.

"Is everyone ok?" he asked. Levy nodded for all three of them while Lyon shook Gray, who had until now, been staring up at the ceiling blankly. Lyon cursed. He knew Gray had an issue with fire but he had no idea how to deal with it. Ur used to be the one who would snap him out of his trances.

* * *

 ** _Red. Red everywhere._**

 ** _"_** ** _Mommy? Daddy?"_**

"Gray! Snap out of it!"

 ** _"_** ** _Gray get out of here!"_**

"Gray! Can you hear me?!"

 ** _"_** ** _Life's cruel, kid. But so is death."_**

"GRAY!"

* * *

Gray jolted with a start as he returned back to the present. From the looks of his surroundings, he was out of the building. That's right… there was a fire. Everyone must have evacuated outside. Immediately above him, he saw Lyon, Gajeel and Levy hovering over him as well as... Erza? What was she doing here? The redhead cop smiled at him.

"Thank goodness you're back. The fire department and I just arrived a little while ago. Gajeel carried you out." Gray nodded. Then, all trace of the sisterly compassion was gone and she hit him on the head. Gray shot up and clutched his head, muttering to himself.

"Oww... what the hell was that for?!" he demanded. Erza put her hand on her hips.

"You idiot! I told you to hire a bodyguard! Now look what you've gotten yourself into! You could've _died_ if Lyon hadn't saved you!" Gray couldn't even argue. He knew that he would've died. If that explosion hadn't killed him, then being in that burning room most definitely would have. Erza sighed. Gray looked so upset that she couldn't find it in her to scold him anymore. But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to fix his mistake. "That said I took the liberty of hiring a bodyguard _for_ you." Gray sputtered indignantly.

"Erza!" he protested. The redhead's hard glare shut him up.

"This incident just _proves_ that you need a bodyguard. He should be joining us shortly. He's the best of the best, so don't you dare fire him! Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Gray squeaked.

Just then, a bright red convertible pulled up to the curb. A man who looked only a little older than Gray himself stepped out, wearing a suit and a red tie. But the most striking feature of all was his pink hair. Everyone save for Gajeel and Erza gawked. They'd never seen pink hair on a guy before. Gajeel raised an eyebrow as he took in the man's appearance.

"It's been a while, Salamander," he greeted. The man turned and raised an eyebrow at Gajeel as well.

"Didn't think I'd see you here, Gajeel. How's this place treating you?" Gajeel smirked.

"The pay is good. Can't really argue with that." Natsu responded with a smirk of his own and let his gaze wander until it landed on Gray. He turned to Erza.

"This is the guy?" he asked. Erza nodded. Gray finally found his voice and pointed a finger accusingly at the pink haired stranger.

"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded. Erza hit him on the head again. She cleared her throat and gestured towards the man.

"Let me introduce you. This is the Salamander, from Dragon Slayer Corp. He's their best bodyguard. Everyone, meet Natsu Dragneel."

* * *

 **Our favourite rosette has come into the story~ How was it? Leave me some reviews! ^~^**


	4. Icebreaker

**I know I said December for an update to Skullcrusher508, but I found some time this weekend and typed up this chapter. Hopefully it's not too bad since I edited it like once.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own FT!**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Gray stared at the man before him. There was no way he was older than he himself. But he was some big shot bodyguard? No way in hell!

"Erza, this is ridiculous! There's no way this guy is going to guard me!" Erza's eyes narrowed.

"Don't throw a fit, Gray. He's the best there is. He's good at what he does. You know I wouldn't just trust your life to some incompetent fool." Natsu crossed his arms. He didn't like people doubting his capabilities. Just when he was about to butt in himself, Gajeel spoke up for him.

"If you don't trust her, then trust me. We went to college together. He was always top of the class." Gray scowled. He did not want to have to rely on a bodyguard. He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and turned to face Lyon.

"Please, Gray? There was just an attempt on your life. At least until we find out who planned this ok?" Gray sighed and let all the fight drain out of him.

"Alright, fine. But if he screws up, I'm firing him." Natsu laughed.

"No chance of that happening. I never screw up." Gray raised an eyebrow. It seemed like his new bodyguard had an ego.

* * *

Another car screeched to a halt to reveal Makarov and Gildarts. The two immediately rushed over to Gray, who was still sitting on the floor.

"Gray! Lyon! Are you both ok?" Makarov asked. Gray managed a smile and stood.

"I'm fine, thanks to Lyon." His older brother smirked and ruffled his hair.

"The things I do for you, little brother. Honestly. I'm glad Salamander is going to be taking care of you from now on." Gildarts looked surprised before finally noticing Natsu's presence. He opened his arms wide.

"Natsu! It's been a while! How have you been?" he asked. Natsu opted not to hug the man but did nod respectfully in his direction.

"I've been well. You seem well yourself, Gildarts-san." The vice chairman swatted his hand like he was hitting a bug.

"None of that now. You're a precious reminder of my old friend, Igneel. How old are you now, kid?" Too late, Gildarts realised what he had said. He covered his mouth with his hands and cautiously watched Natsu. Natsu looked sad for a moment before answering in a wistful tone.

"I'm 25." Gray's eyes widened. This guy was older than him?! Makarov made his way over to the man as well.

"Good to see you, Natsu. How's my grandson?" he asked. Gray raised an eyebrow. How many hypothetical grandsons did Makarov have?

"Laxus is doing well. Swamped with work as usual though. We never hear the end of it." The old man laughed.

"That's my grandson for you!" That was when Lyon decided to cut in.

"Makarov-san, how do you and Gildarts-san know Salamander?" Gildarts laughed boisterously and put his hand behind his head.

"Like I said, I knew his dad. We attended the same university, U of Magnolia. Makarov on the other hand, knows Natsu because Natsu works for his grandson Laxus." Lyon nodded.

"I see. You seem to be in good hands, Gray." Gray just scowled. Even his brother was against him. Makarov inspected the building. He turned to Erza.

"Do we know the source of the fire, Officer?" The woman nodded.

"A small bomb taped to the bottom of Gray's chair. It was an obvious attempt to kill him." Natsu remained silent as he absorbed this information. Makarov held his chin in his hand. Just then, the firefighters came out of the building.

"No one was hurt, but I'm afraid your office might need a bit of redecorating…" the team leader reported. Gray slumped to the pavement. All his papers, all his reports, all his files, gone!

"Gray, take the rest of the day off," Makarov ordered. Gray was surprised, then stood up and shouted at the chairman, indignant.

"What the hell?! You expect me to just leave work?! Fantasia is in a month! I need to get everything in my office replaced!" Makarov sighed.

"Be that as it may, your safety comes first. Besides, you can spend the rest of the day getting acquainted with Natsu." At the mention of his bodyguard, Gray's eye twitched. Gildarts laughed and slapped the president on the back.

"Come on Gray. Don't be a sourpuss. It's a rare day off! I'm sure Lyon can take care of things here, right?" Lyon nodded and ruffled his brother's hair again.

"Don't worry about it. Just go home with Salamander and take it easy. If there are any problems, you'll know." Gray grumbled but picked himself off the pavement and marched over to Natsu's car. His bodyguard watched with amusement as he followed with a smile. The two car doors slammed shut and the car sped off in a crimson blur. Levy giggled and made her way to her colleagues along with Lyon, ready to explain the situation to them.

* * *

Gray kept his eyes glued outside as Natsu sped down the street. He was still angry that he had to entertain a bodyguard. He was perfectly capable of protecting himself!

"If that's so, then what happened back in that fire?" Natsu asked calmly. Gray jolted as he realised that he had been talking out loud. He turned and glared at the driver.

"That's none of your business," he spat. Without missing a beat, Natsu retorted,

"It is if I'm going to guard your pathetic ass." Gray felt his anger rise. He was about to respond back with something equally as scathing, but remembered that Erza had hired Natsu for him and if he fired him in the first 20 minutes, the scarlet haired cop would be more than furious. He settled for,

"I don't want to talk about it." Natsu briefly glanced in his charge's direction and turned his attention back to the road. Gray leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes for a moment before snapping them open and sitting up rigidly.

"Do you even know where I live?!" he asked. Natsu scoffed.

"Of course. Scarlet-san gave me all your information." Gray scowled. Leave it to Erza to do that. The rest of the ride was silent.

* * *

Gray lived in a two story house on Magic Avenue. It had surprised Lyon at first when he had insisted on living in a normal house and not something grander. Gray had more than enough money to support himself but he had said that he felt more at home in a house like this and who was Lyon to argue with that? Unlocking the front door, Gray took off his coat and hung it on the rack. Natsu followed him in. Gray fixed himself a cup of ice water and asked his guest what he would like.

"Coffee is fine. Two cream and two sugar if that's ok." Gray nodded and made Natsu his drink. He quietly mused that his big bad bodyguard seemed to have a bit of a sweet tooth. He entered his living room and found Natsu standing in the centre, watching his every move. It unnerved Gray a little. He took a seat in his leather armchair. He leaned back and gestured to another chair.

"You can sit if you want." At first, Natsu didn't move. All he did was look around the room. Gray sighed. After seemingly deeming that the room was safe, Natsu did as Gray had said. Gray took a sip of his water and set it down on his coffee table. Natsu did the same. Gray leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on his thighs. Natsu sat perfectly straight, staring at his charge. Gray felt awkward with someone staring at him.

"You don't have to be so formal with me. I'm younger than you." Natsu raised an eyebrow and relaxed a bit. Gray facepalmed.

"Even more than that. Just act like you would with your friend. Imagine I'm not your charge. I'm just your friend." Faster than Gray could blink, the suit jacket and red tie were off and on the floor. Natsu now was sprawled on the other arm chair, an expression of content on his face. Gray's eyes bugged. Was this really the same uptight guy?! Natsu shot Gray a grin that looked so childish and innocent Gray had trouble believing Natsu's statement of his age earlier.

"Ahh, that feels better! That stupid tie is always a pain in the ass." Gray slowly came out of his shock and leaned back.

"You know… even if I said to act yourself, there's such a thing as _too_ comfortable." Natsu gave him a cheeky grin.

"You told me to act like I did if you were my friend. And this is how I act with my friends." Gray was silent. He was still surprised by the sudden change in demeanor. Just then, Natsu perked up and sat on the chair properly.

"Hey, I can call you Gray, right? None of the Fullbuster-san stuff right?" he asked. Gray nodded.

"I'll call you Natsu then." Natsu nodded. Gray reached down and began to drink from his glass.

"By the way Gray, since I'm going to be living with you, can I bring my cat?" Gray spat out his drink all over his chair. Wiping the water away from his mouth with his sleeve, he turned to his beaming bodyguard.

"Who said you were living with me?!" he demanded. Natsu took a sip of his coffee.

"Scarlet-san did." Gray gulped. There went his chances of escaping that idea. He sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair.

"Sure, it's fine. As long as he doesn't shed like crazy or scratch the furniture or whatever." Natsu beamed happily. Gray grumbled to himself. He finished off his drink and was about to head into the kitchen to look for a rag to clean up the mess on his chair when Natsu interrupted him.

"So tell me about yourself." Gray glanced back and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know all about me?" he asked. Natsu finished the last of his coffee and set the mug down.

"Yeah, but I always like to hear it from the client's mouth instead of from a piece of paper." Gray left wordlessly and returned with a rag and began to clean his chair. When he finished, he took a seat on the now dry chair and supported his head with one hand.

"Hmm… I'm Gray Fullbuster and I'm 24 years old. I'm the President of Fairy Tail Corp, as you already know. I like cold food and I go to the gym once in a while. What else do you want to know?" Natsu appeared thoughtful.

"Have any interests? Favourite anything?" Gray sighed. He didn't see how this was relevant in any way to his safety.

"Interests… video games are always fun I guess. Sports too. As for favourite things… colour is navy blue, drink is iced cappuccino, season is winter and time of day is evening." Natsu nodded. Gray crossed his arms.

"I told you about me. Tell me about yourself." Natsu frowned for a second before the look was wiped away with a bright grin. But not fast enough for Gray not to notice.

"Alright. I'm Natsu Dragneel, otherwise known as Salamander and I'm 25 years old. I like spicy food, my favourite colour is red," Gray cringed at the colour but Natsu continued as if he hadn't noticed,

"I like the summer and mornings! I bet I could totally kick your ass in video games though, Ice Princess." Gray gawked at the nickname.

" _Excuse me_?" he asked. Natsu laughed.

"The look on your face is priceless! But yeah. You like cold food and you're so easy to tease it's hilarious." Gray's eyebrow twitched.

"Shut up Flame Brain! I am not easy to tease!" Natsu's eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Flame Brain huh? You're so childish." Gray scoffed.

"Are you one to talk? You started it!" The two began to bicker like an old married couple. But there was no mistaking the grins on their faces. The pair were obviously enjoying themselves very much.

* * *

Natsu stood up and stretched. He had been sitting down for a few hours and really needed some exercise. Gray stood up and stretched as well before heading into the kitchen to get started on dinner. Natsu followed and watched his charge grab some pasta and fill his pot with water. Natsu gazed around the kitchen.

"You live alone?" Gray seemed to hesitate in his answer and for a brief moment, looked melancholic.

"Yeah…" Natsu immediately dropped the subject. Instead he opted to get more information about the people in Gray's life.

"So tell me about the group I found you with in front of your headquarters." Gray cringed at the memory of his burning office. The memories of flames were burned into his mind and he didn't need another fresh reminder of them. He shook his head to rid himself of the mental imagery before dumping pasta into the pot.

"The white haired one is my older brother, Lyon Vastia. We aren't related by blood, but we were both adopted by Ur Milkovich, my late adoptive mother," he explained after seeing the rosette's disbelieving look. "The blue haired one was Levy McGarden. She's my personal secretary and one of my childhood friends and also the best friend of another of my childhood friends, Lucy Heartfilia. I'm not sure if you saw her, since she wasn't with me when you got there, but I'll introduce you sometime. You already know Gajeel, he's the head of security and the redhead, who you already know, is Erza Scarlet. She's also my childhood friend but she's one year older than me, so she's the same age as you. She's a cop, and a really good one at that." Natsu nodded and took a seat at the table. Gray came over with two heaping plates of pasta and set one down in front of Natsu. The man smiled as he grabbed his fork and dug in.

"This is really good, Gray! Where did you learn to cook?" he asked. Gray took a bite of his own helping before answering.

"Erza and Lucy taught me once. They said it would be good to know." Natsu nodded before shoving another forkful into his mouth. Gray laughed at the sight. "Slow down, Natsu. The food isn't going anywhere." He began to eat his own share. Gray felt himself smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live with Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

The two finished their dinner quickly and Gray grabbed his jacket and gave Natsu's his. He locked the door as they both left and he climbed into Natsu's car's passenger seat.

"Where do you live?" he asked. Natsu only smiled and turned the ignition.

"Not far. You'll see." Gray resigned himself to the surprise and watched as the scenery roll by.

* * *

The car slowed to a stop in front of a red bungalow. Gray stepped out of the car and stared at the house. Natsu sure loved the colour red. That said, he had expected Natsu to live in something a bit more... extravagant. He was a big shot bodyguard after all. But he said nothing as he followed him into the house.

"Happy! I'm home!" Natsu called out. Gray expected a cat to crawl out but he was a bit more than flabbergasted when a _blue_ cat turned the corner _on its hind legs_ and raised its paw in greeting.

"Aye! Is this your new client, Natsu?" Gray backed up against the door in shock. Natsu on the other hand, affectionately hugged the cat.

"Hey Happy. Yeah, this is him. Happy, meet Gray. Pack some fish, we're going to live with Gray for this job," he explained and the cat sauntered off in search of his favourite food. Natsu turned back and found Gray pressed against the door, a terrified and utterly confused expression on his face. Natsu roared with laughter. Gray shook himself out of his stupor and glared at the rosette.

"What the hell is so funny, Flame Brain?!"

"The look on your face! I mean, I've seen people's reactions to Happy but wow! Yours takes the cake!" Gray turned crimson in embarrassment.

"Shut up! Why didn't you tell me your cat talked?! Or walked on its hind legs! _Or is blue?!_ "

"I didn't think it was important."

" _Not important?!_ "

"Did I interrupt something?" Both males turned to the cat staring at the two of them, a fish in its mouth. Natsu petted Happy on the head and smiled.

"Nah. Can you wait here, Happy? Gray and I are going to pack my stuff now." Gray raised an eyebrow. Natsu shouldn't need him to pack his clothes. But his bodyguard gestured for him to follow and Gray shrugged and obeyed, curious as to why he needed to be there. Happy watched them go, contentedly munching on his fish.

"Aye!"

* * *

Natsu's room was messy. Even messier than Gray's and Gray considered himself to be a messy person when he wasn't at work. Clothes were littered on the floor and hung out of drawers. A desk with a lamp was strewn with papers and pencils. The bed looked like a tornado blew through it. But despite the state of the room, there was one thing that was pristine and that was a photo of a red haired man who looked like he was in his fifties. Gray took notice and immediately thought back to the Igneel person that Gildarts had mentioned. Obviously, the man was extremely important to Natsu and so he chose not to comment but instead gawked at the doorway while Natsu just proceeded to yank a suitcase from underneath his bed and throw clothes into it. Gray pointed accusingly at Natsu.

"How the hell is your room so messy?!" The rosette shrugged.

"How should I know? It's just the way I am." Another T-shirt flew into the suitcase. Gray just watched in silence. At least he did until a pair of putrid smelling socks hit him in the face. He yanked them off and threw them at their owner.

"Watch where you're throwing things, Flame Brain!" Natsu snorted.

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

When the suitcase was finally full, Natsu grabbed a black T-shirt with a red dragon design and a pair of blue ripped jeans.

"You're fine if I wear casual clothing right?" he asked, without turning to face Gray.

"Yeah. It's awkward having you stand by me all the time in some suit looking intimidating."

"Good. I don't want to have to repack my suitcase." Natsu smirked and began to unbutton his dress shirt. Gray blushed and shielded his eyes. The last time he had seen a guy naked was in his gym class back in high school. Natsu turned around at the uncharacteristic silence from Gray and what little tinge of pink Gray had had on his cheeks exploded into scarlet. Natsu grinned slyly.

" _Oh?_ Something wrong, Ice Princess? Never seen a firm set of abs or muscles?" he teased. If Gray was red before now he was absolutely _crimson_. He turned away, face steaming with embarrassment.

"Shut up! Don't just randomly start stripping! Give people some warning to get out of the room first!" He stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut. The sound of Natsu's laughter followed him out.

* * *

A few minutes later, Natsu emerged from his room, suitcase in hand and dressed in the jeans and T-shirt and also a white scaled scarf. Gray raised his eyebrows at the scarf but huffed and crossed his arms and refused to meet Natsu's gaze. Natsu snickered and began to carry his luggage towards his car. Gray followed far behind him, not wanting anything to do with his eccentric and apparently sly bodyguard. Happy walked alongside Gray, struggling to match his pace. Noticing this, Gray took smaller strides in an effort to accommodate the cat.

"Aye! So you're Gray right?" the cat asked. Gray nodded. "Hmm... what do you do for a living, Gray? Natsu normally guards super important old people so seeing you is really different from the norm."

"I'm the president of Fairy Tail Corp. I'm really not that big of a deal but my friend Erza wanted me to have a bodyguard and so here I am." The cat nodded in understanding. The two left the house and took their seats in Natsu's car. The driver's door slammed shut and the three were on their way back to Gray's house.

"Aye! Gray your house is so nice!" Happy exclaimed as he ran inside. Gray rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's really not much, but I'm glad you like it Happy." The cat rolled around his carpet, enjoying its texture and Gray couldn't help but smile.

The landline's ringtone broke the tender moment. Gray picked up the receiver after looking at the caller I.D.

"Hey Lyon. What's up?" Natsu watched on with interest. He frowned as Gray furrowed his brow and placed his hand to his forehead. "Ugh. Idiots, all of them. Get Macao to do something about it. He and Wakaba are just about the only sane ones in that department." Gray hung up and replaced the phone in its rightful place. Natsu was watching Happy roll on the floor.

"You hungry, pal?" he asked his pet. The cat shook his head.

"I ate fish before you got home!" Natsu laughed and patted the cat on the head. Gray turned on the T.V to the news before easing back into his armchair and closing his eyes.

* * *

He was woken up to Natsu's face hovering way too close to his and the man's arms on either side of his head. A blush immediately spread across his face and he pushed his bodyguard away.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, flustered. Natsu crossed his arms.

"I thought you would be uncomfortable like that. So I was going to wake up you but you woke up just as I was about to."

"That doesn't explain why you were so close."

"I tripped." Gray raised an eyebrow. Natsu laughed. _Cute,_ he mused. Scooping up the raven, he began to carry him bridal style up the stairs. Gray freaked out and beat Natsu's chest.

"Let go, Flame Brain! Put me down!" Natsu simply smirked and ignored him. Gray was unceremoniously plopped onto his bed.

"You still haven't given me and Happy a room to stay in," he reminded, pouting childishly. Gray cleared his throat awkwardly. How could he have forgotten something like that?! He left his bed and gestured to the room beside his.

"This is fine, right? Does Happy need a bed or anything?"

"No, he sleeps with me. Good night then, Ice Princess."

"Good night, Flame Brain." The door clicked shut and Gray was left staring it. He hesitated before turning and walking back to his room. He needed to sleep.

* * *

Natsu blinked blearily as he awoke and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. This didn't look like his room. A look of recognition dawned on him. Right. He was at Gray's. Speaking of Gray, he should wake him up. He left to go to the bathroom and tried not to wake Happy up, who was curled up on the foot of his bed.

When Natsu returned to his room, he still didn't hear anything indicating that Gray was awake. Huh. He didn't take Gray for a late sleeper. He knocked gently before opening the door to his charge's room. The navy blue door opened noiselessly and Natsu peeked in. Gray was still sleeping, the dark blue curtains of his window drawn shut. Natsu laughed to himself. Gray hadn't been kidding when he had said that his favourite colour was blue.

Natsu strode across the room and pulled the curtains apart, letting sunlight wash through the room. The light illuminated Gray's peaceful face and Natsu smiled, unabashed. Natsu took a seat on the edge of the bed next to Gray. The raven locks that fell slightly over Gray's forehead looked so soft to the touch and Natsu couldn't help but run his hand through them. His raven haired charge sighed in content and tried to snuggle in closer to Natsu. The rosette smiled. Gray shifted from underneath him and Natsu pulled away just quickly enough to avoid being caught. The raven sat up and rubbed his eyes childishly and yawned. Natsu laughed. How cute! When Gray was fully awake and aware, a furious blush immediately settled across his face.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?!" he screamed. Natsu backed away to a respectful distance.

"It's already ten in the morning, Ice Princess. I didn't take you for a late sleeper." Gray's blush darkened and he threw a pillow at his bodyguard.

"I'm up now so get the hell out so I can change!"

Gray grumbled as he descended down his stairs. While he had been grumpy about being woken up, there was a feeling of joy at not having to wake up alone. It was a warm feeling that he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the smell of bacon frying. Raising his eyebrows, he turned the corner and found Natsu frying up breakfast. The bodyguard turned around and smiled.

"Yo! Hope you're in the mood for bacon and eggs!" Gray looked around the room and found Happy sitting at the table, happily munching on a fish. Gray pulled up a seat next to the cat.

"Sure. Didn't know you knew how to cook though." A plate of delicious smelling food was placed in front of him and he immediately shut up to start eating. After a bite, he looked up in bewilderment at Natsu.

"T-This... is really, really good." Natsu beamed and took a seat next to Gray, his own plate heaping.

"Glad you like it, Ice Princess."

Gray slung his jacket over his shoulder and Natsu followed suit.

"Where are we going?" Natsu asked.

"To the office. I need to do a couple of things and you might as well meet some of my friends." Natsu nodded. He then called out to Happy that they were leaving.

"Aye, sir! See you later, Natsu, Gray! Bring me back some fish!" Gray chuckled before locking the door and stepping into the passenger seat of Natsu's obnoxiously red car. The two sped off in the direction of Fairy Tail Corporation, the loud rumbling of the car's engine disturbing the quiet peace of the neighbourhood.

* * *

 **This was longgggg! Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! Leave a review if you have time~**


	5. Suspect Number One

**Hello~! Merry belated Christmas guys! I've been pretty busy over the holidays but I did my absolute best and got it out before the year ended! I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Gray peeked out from behind the corner of the building. Natsu watched from behind him and crossed his arms.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. Gray brought a finger to his lips.

"Shh! Lyon might be around. If he catches me, I'm done for!" Natsu snickered but followed Gray as he attempted to sneak into his own office.

They made it through the front door.

"Gray! What the hell are you doing here?!" Gray gulped while Natsu stood back and watched with crossed arms.

"H-Hey Lyon… I just thought I'd visit…"

"You know full well that you shouldn't be here yet!"

"Well yeah… but you know, I _am_ the president and with Fantasia coming u—"

"I told you that if anything happened we would call you!" Lyon pointed a finger accusingly at the rosette who had until now, just been watching the scene unfold with mirth twinkling in his eyes. "And you! What are you doing? Shouldn't you be guarding him?!" Natsu huffed.

"I am. Is he in any danger? No. If he is, you can be sure that I'll protect him." Lyon crossed his arms in annoyance. This overly arrogant bodyguard was starting to get on his nerves. Gray sensed the tension in between the two and decided to intervene.

"Come on Lyon, I pressured him into it. Besides, I'm not coming in to work. Think of it as a tour for Natsu." The silver haired man huffed but said no more as he turned on his heel and stalked up the elevator. Gray smiled wide and led the amused rosette to the elevator.

"Don't worry about him. Lyon is just throwing a hissy fit like the man child he is." Natsu had to snicker at that.

* * *

When they reached the top floor, Natsu stepped out with an entirely different demeanor that what he had displayed earlier with Lyon. His arms were still crossed but his lips were pulled into a thin line and the way he walked was stiff, much like how he had been when the two had first met. Gray allowed himself a moment to be impressed. It was quite a feat to be able to mask your emotions that well and that quickly. But then again, it was probably an essential skill as a bodyguard.

The door opened and Levy looked up with surprise.

"Gray! What are you doing here?" The raven haired president awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"It seems like everyone is asking me that today. I'm just here to show Natsu around. Speaking of which, Natsu, meet Levy McGarden, my personal secretary." The short bluenette extended her hand in greeting and Natsu firmly shook it. Unfortunately, the bodyguard didn't know his own strength and Levy winced at his strong grip. She pretended not to be bothered.

"So Natsu, how do you like Fairy Tail Corp so far?"

"It's nice. It's a little uselessly big though, if you don't mind my saying. And I don't understand why there are roses everywhere. In the office, in the hallways, they're everywhere." Natsu waited for a response and when he didn't get one, he scanned the two's faces for answers.

What he got was not what he had expected.

The bluenette's face was not that difficult to read, but it looked like she was struggling to hold back tears. Her tiny fists trembled at her sides as she fought to suppress the tears. Gray on the other hand had a stoic expression, almost impossible to read. The only thing that Natsu caught on the raven's face was grief. He did not understand why a simple question about decorations had changed the mood so drastically. He was about to dismiss his question when Gray's quiet voice spoke up.

"My mom loved roses." Immediately, Natsu felt guilty for asking.

"Sor—"

"Don't be," Gray interrupted. "It's fine. They make the place look nicer anyway." With that, the raven left the foyer and entered his office. Levy stared after her boss with a sad look and the smallest hint of pity. Exactly what had Gray gone through, Natsu wondered. He didn't dwell on it any further though, as he bade Levy farewell and followed after his charge.

* * *

The office still looked like a bomb had gone off in it, which of course, it had. Gray sighed as he crouched down on the floor and picked up a shard of what appeared to be a flower vase. The piece itself was beautiful, a deep midnight blue that rivalled the shade of Gray's eyes and what appeared to be part of the Fairy Tail logo emblazoned on it in brilliant white. Natsu was sure that the vase had once been a masterpiece. He watched in stony silence as Gray put the piece in his pocket wordlessly. Natsu almost told him that that was not a smart idea as the shard was sharp and he ran a risk of cutting his leg with it, but one look at the shattered expression on the raven's face had him close his mouth and allow the raven one last piece of what had obviously been an important treasure to him.

With one last look around his destroyed office, Gray walked to the exit.

"Come on," he said softly. "I'll introduce you to Lucy."

* * *

"Gray?! What are you doing here?" Lucy asked as she stood up from her desk. Gray rolled his eyes.

"Is it so uncommon to see your boss in his own company?"

"No, but someone _did_ just try to kill you yesterday…" Gray sighed and placed a hand to his forehead.

"I'm fine. Anyway, Lucy, you didn't meet him yesterday, so this is Natsu Dragneel. He's my bodyguard. Natsu, this is Lucy Heartfilia, my childhood friend and a secretary in our Human Resources department." Gray turned to Natsu, who stared wide eyed at Lucy. He turned back to Lucy, finding the exact same expression on her features as well. "Umm… is there something I'm missing here?"

"Natsu? Like, _Tsu-kun_?" Lucy asked incredulously. Gray blinked before turning his gaze back to Natsu who was nodding his head. When he stopped, he pointed his finger at Lucy dumbly.

"If… if you're calling me that… then you're Luigi!" Gray sweatdropped at the obviously incorrect name but Lucy nodded vigorously. Gray coughed into his fist, feeling like he was intruding on something.

"So… I take it you two know each other?"

Lucy laughed. "Know each other? Gray, Natsu was my best friend back in grade school! He transferred to a different school in grade two, which is why you don't know him, since you came in grade four," she explained. Gray nodded.

"I see. I'll leave you two to catch up then. There's something I need to talk to Loke about." With that, Gray disappeared into Loke's office, leaving Natsu and Lucy curious. Natsu took a step forward, about to follow his charge when Lucy stopped him.

"Loke would never do anything to harm Gray. They're like brothers." Natsu frowned but decided to trust his childhood friend.

* * *

"I want you to work with the marketing team to make sure that word of this incident doesn't get out. Some of it probably has, but keep it down to a minimum. We can't have our customers thinking that we're going to go down." Loke nodded, understanding completely.

"Understood. We can't let this incident interfere with Fantasia nor with Fairy Tail Corp's public image." Gray ran his hand through his hair while Loke laughed lightly. Gray glared at him.

"What's so funny?" he demanded. Loke covered his mouth with his hand, still grinning.

"It's nothing… it's just that I'm not used to you actually acting like the president you are." Gray frowned and crossed his arms.

"Well, sorry about that," he drawled sarcastically. Loke smiled and stood up, preparing to show his boss out when he stopped.

"Come to think of it, where's your bodyguard? Surely, you didn't come here alone. Erza would kill you," Loke said as both he and Gray shivered at the mere thought of the redhead's wrath.

"Yeah, he's outside talking with Lucy. Come on, I'll introduce you to him."

* * *

"Loke, this is Natsu Dragneel. Natsu, this is Loke. He's a good friend of mine." Natsu nodded and extended his hand for a handshake. Loke smiled and brought up his fist instead.

"Don't be so stiff, man. Loosen up. I'm not gonna hurt Gray and you seem like a cool guy." Natsu smiled and retracted his open hand and bumped fists with Loke.

"Nice to meet you," Natsu greeted. Loke grinned.

"So tell me. Has Gray gotten in trouble with anyone yet?" Gray turned indignantly to his subordinate while Natsu smiled, amused.

"Only everybody in this building that we've seen."

"Natsu!"

* * *

Gray knocked on the door to Lyon's office, only to receive a gruff, "Enter." Gray frowned but pushed the door open.

"Ah, Gray. What do you need?" Lyon asked. Gray leaned against the doorframe and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Just came by to tell you that Loke and the marketing team are going to take care of public appeal. Also, are you going to break for lunch anytime soon, Lyon?"

Without looking up from his computer screen, he answered, "No. Why?" Gray sighed and walked around the desk before turning Lyon's monitor off. Indignant, Lyon turned to his brother. "What was that for?"

"It's 12:30 and I want you to come to eat lunch with us. You're going to overwork yourself, Lyon." Sighing, Lyon pushed himself off his chair.

"Fine. Lead the way."

* * *

"So Salamander, is my brother doing well? Have there been any threats? What happened last night?" If not for Natsu's excellent poker face and professionalism, he would've definitely been hiding from the silverette. Gray sighed and decided to save his new bodyguard.

"Nothing happened, Lyon. We dropped by Natsu's house to pack some of his things and we talked." Lyon still didn't seem satisfied with this answer, but Lucy joined in the rescue effort.

"Come on Vastia-fukushachou, it was Natsu's first day on the job. There wasn't that much that could've happened."

"The person who planted the bomb could've tried to finish the job," Lyon muttered. Gray groaned. It was useless. He knew that Lyon was overprotective, but ever since the bombing, his protectiveness seemed to have tripled. Loke and Levy just watched the scene unfold, mirth in their eyes as they watched their president's frustration.

They were interrupted when a tray was set down at their table and a female voice spoke up,

"Is this seat taken?" They all glanced up in surprise and found Erza smiling down at them.

"Erza! What are you doing here?" Gray asked.

"I just got off my shift. I was hungry so I decided to grab lunch. So may I sit?"

"Ah, of course!" The redhead took her seat and took her fork, slicing off a chunk of her strawberry cake with it.

"So, Natsu, how has Gray been so far?" Natsu raised an eyebrow. No honorifics? Well that was fine, he supposed.

"He's been fine, Erza-san," he reported.

"Erza is fine. So tell me, has Gray driven you crazy yet?" she teased. Gray hid his face in his hands.

"Erza!" he complained. The cop laughed and smiled.

"I'm only teasing, Gray. Natsu, Gray is a good person. I hope you two become friends. God knows he needs more." Gray groaned for what seemed like the millionth time that hour. Everyone shared a laugh at his expense as he redirected his attention from the conversation to his lunch.

Lyon stood and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"I'm going to head back up. Gray, you better not get into any trouble while you're here," he warned as he left the group. Gray hid his face in his hands as Loke clapped him on the back in understanding.

"Don't worry Gray. Lyon will grow out of his overbearing, overprotective brother side eventually. Probably."

Natsu snickered at his expense and Gray shot him a look. "He better," he grumbled. Erza smiled as she stood as well.

"I should be going as well. Jellal is expecting me. Gray, I had some of my officers go up to your office to look for clues. I had them bring up an ice cap while they were at it."

"You're awesome, Erza. I'll see you and Jellal around," Gray said as he stood up from his seat along with Natsu.

"Well, it appears that I have an ice cap to pick up so I'll just grab that and then we'll head back home, where you guys won't bug me." The rest of them shot grins at their boss, who rolled his eyes at them before turning to leave with Natsu in tow.

* * *

Once they were gone, Levy leaned in close.

"So, what do you think?"

"There's definitely some chemistry, no matter how faint," Loke remarked.

"They would look good together," Lucy added.

Levy clapped her hands together."I knew it wasn't just me! Let's hope something actually comes out of this for Gray."

* * *

Gray sighed as he pressed the button for the top floor in the elevator. The doors closed with a pleasant ding and he watched as Natsu leaned back against the wall across from him.

"Your friends seem fun," Natsu smirked.

Gray groaned and leaned against the elevator wall as well. "Don't even start."

Natsu allowed himself a smile. "Too late, Ice Princess." The elevator let out a ding and the doors slid open easily.

"I should get Happy to scratch you or something," Gray frowned as he stepped out of the elevator.

"Fat chance of that happening. Happy loves me and he barely knows you."

"What if I bribed him with fish?" Gray asked as he opened the door to his office.

"Don't you dare," Natsu said lowly, mimicking what Gray had said moments earlier.

Gray laughed. Such faith in his cat! Gray picked up his ice cap and brought the cup up to his mouth to take a sip. Natsu's eyes narrowed and he snatched the cup away from him. Gray looked at his bodyguard indignantly, the previous joking and friendly air now replaced with a tense atmosphere.

"What was that for, Natsu?!" he demanded. Natsu ignored the outburst and continued to eye the cup cautiously. He brought his nose up to it and took a sniff. He nodded. Just as he suspected. Without a word, he brought the cup outside, into the bathroom and poured out all of its contents into the sink. Gray gawked and rushed over, trying to pry his cup out of Natsu's grasp.

"What are you doing, Flame Brain?! That's my ice cap!" Natsu scowled.

"It's poisoned."

"What?!"

"You heard me."

"But… that's impossible! Erza gave it to me!" Natsu raised an eyebrow. It didn't matter who gave him the drink, the fact of the matter was that it was poisoned and Gray could have died drinking it. Why was the raven so quick to reject the idea of the red haired cop being the one after his head?

"Look Gray. You can't be so naïve. Erza could be the one after you; it's not completely impossible. Why are you so quick to defend her?" Gray's mouth opened as he prepared to tell Natsu off. But then he paused. How could he explain this to him and not anger the hot headed rosette?

"Erza… is like a big sister to me. I've been through a lot with her and she's seen me at my absolute worst. There's no way she would ever plan to kill me." Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"And just what is this so called 'absolute worst'?" In a flash, the expression on Gray's face changed from calm to pained. Natsu also caught a brief glimpse of rage.

"You don't want to know," was all the raven said before turning on his heel and leaving. Natsu crossed his arms. Just like a temperamental princess. But he couldn't help but be curious. What had happened to Gray to have him make that face?

Natsu sighed, knowing that he had accidentally stumbled upon something that Gray would rather not speak about. He threw the empty cup into the garbage and followed Gray out the door.

* * *

Back in Gray's office, the police officers had returned from their lunch and were now resuming their search. One officer with pink hair was questioning Gray. Natsu strode up to the pair and wordlessly situated himself beside his charge.

"Do you have any enemies, Fullbuster-san?"

"None that I know of," the raven replied curtly. Natsu glanced down at the nametag that adorned the other rosette's chest. _Meredy_ , it read.

"Have there been any death threats or anything of the like?"

Gray frowned. "I would've reported that, so no." The cop's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"In that case, have you fired anyone as of late? Anyone that might want to take revenge on you?"

Gray opened his mouth to respond that no, he hadn't, when the memory of what had happened in the marketing department office flashed through his mind. He pursed his lips together and the pink haired cop sighed.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Could she have planted the bomb in your office?"

"I-I don't know," Gray mumbled, unsure. _Could_ Karen have tried to kill him? Surely her losing her job wasn't anything that warranted this extremity. Natsu crossed his arms.

"Why didn't you tell me this beforehand?" he asked.

Gray turned to glare at him. "It slipped my mind and I didn't think that it was important."

Natsu let out a groan of frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. Meredy finished writing down her notes in a notebook and snapped it shut.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Fullbuster-san. We will run an investigation and will let you know its results as soon as we can." With that, the police officers all vacated Gray's office, leaving him and Natsu in silence.

"Are you ok, Gray?" Natsu asked. Gray whipped around angrily to face Natsu.

"I'm fine, Natsu! Just leave me alone!"

Natsu sighed as he slung his arm around Gray's shoulders comfortingly. "I know it's hard. You never thought that someone you hired might want to kill you. No one ever does. Come on, that's enough for today. We're going back home."

Gray simply nodded and followed him out and back towards the car.

* * *

When the two returned to Gray's house, the first thing that he did was storm straight up to his room and slam the door. Happy watched in confusion and he tugged on Natsu's pant leg.

"Natsu, what's wrong with Gray?" The rosette sighed.

"He's just going through a tough time right now, Happy. Come on, I'll take you out for some sushi and we'll bring some back for Gray."

Gray heard his front door close and he turned on his bed so that he lay on his back. He stared up at his ceiling and let his thoughts wander.

 _Karen… why?_

 _Was getting fired something so horrible that it pushed you to want to kill me?_

Gray closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He just didn't know anymore.

* * *

 **Ta-da~ I hope it was up to your expectations! I might not update in January, since exams are coming up. I'll see what I can do. Leave me review and happy new year!**


	6. That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

**Anddd she lives! Exams were brutal but those are over with! I hope you all had a lovely Valentines and Family Day! On with the chapter :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Read and Review**

* * *

Gray woke up to a knock on his door.

 _When did I fall asleep…?_

"Gray, you've slept the whole day away. I brought sushi back for you so come down and get it." With that, the sound of Natsu's retreating footsteps echoed down the hall and Gray pushed himself up off his bed. He was famished.

Dinner passed in silence, which was uncharacteristic for the boisterous rosette. Natsu wasn't eating, having already eaten his fill earlier with Happy, but Gray had expected to be bombarded by constant questions. When Gray finished, Natsu stood up and excused himself, saying that he had an important call to make. Gray raised an eyebrow but did not ask any questions.

Which is why he found himself standing at the door one and a half hours later, staring into the eyes of a man that he had never seen before.

"Umm… Can I help you?"

"Is Natsu Dragneel inside? I have something he requested," he informed as he revealed the file folder in his hands. Gray looked the man up and down. He didn't look very friendly to say the least. He had hair covering his right eye. He was dressed in all black, giving him a rather depressed vibe. His red eyes scrutinized him carefully, never once leaving his face, which Gray found slightly unnerving. If he didn't know any better, Gray might've pegged him for some foreign relative of Gajeel's.

"Yo, Rogue," Natsu called from behind him. Gray backed up to get out of their way only to run into Natsu's chest.

 _Natsu has… very firm muscles…_

Gray then proceeded to die mentally of mortification because of that thought.

"Natsu-san," Rogue greeted.

"How's Sting?" Natsu asked jovially.

"He's doing fine. He got hired at a very well-known company. I can't seem to recall the name though…"

"That's awesome! I'm glad he finally found a job! Thanks for getting all the stuff I asked for so late." Rogue rolled his eyes.

"You always say that but you never seem to change your habits," he scoffed. Natsu grinned at him cheekily and accepted the folder.

"I owe you one, Rogue!" he thanked as he retreated back inside. Rogue rolled his eyes again before giving a nod to Gray and turning to leave. Blinking, he watched him go.

* * *

"So… who was that?" Gray asked when he entered Natsu's room, only to find him lying down, papers strewn over his bed. He noticed one flutter to the floor and bent to pick it up. Skimming its contents, his jaw dropped.

 _What the fuck?_

"Karen Lilica, age 27. Her mom is a hair stylist and her dad is a lawyer. She lives on 631 Celestia Lane. No significant other and no roommates either. Has reportedly been more active on social media lately…" Natsu read off from the sheet he was currently holding. He was about to continue when it was snatched out of his hands. Looking at the offender crossly, he frowned. "What?"

" _'_ _What?'_? Are you serious right now? This is basically stalking!" Gray balked. Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"I would hardly call doing my job stalking. I need to find out if she really _is_ the one who wants you dead."

"Can't you leave that to the police?" Gray asked, exasperated.

"Trust me when I say that I have better ways of getting information than most police officers do." Gray raised an eyebrow, various sorts of illegal ways of obtaining information flashing through his mind. Apparently what he was thinking about was obvious because Natsu laughed suddenly. "They're all legal, Ice Princess."

"Shut up! I wasn't thinking anything like that!"

"Sure you weren't. And Lucy isn't friends with Levy."

"Asshole…"

* * *

Gray ended up falling asleep on Natsu's bed, much to his mortification the next morning. The first thing that he had seen had been the rosette's cheeky grin with a teasing,

"Good morning, Ice Princess." Gray had turned several shades of red that would've put Erza's hair colour to shame. He had bolted out of the room as if the devil was on his heels and locked himself in the bathroom with Natsu's chuckles following him out.

* * *

At around noon, there was a knock at the door. Cocking his head to the side, Gray stood to answer it. He hadn't been expecting any company. He opened the door to find two people that he certainly hadn't expected.

"Erza… Loke. What are you guys doing here?" Gray asked. Loke smiled good-naturedly.

"Don't be like that, Gray! Erza had a day off and so did I, so we came to check up on!" Loke reported, beaming all the while. Gray frowned, not very impressed while Erza simply nodded, looking very satisfied.

"Well… I guess I should invite you guys in then," he conceded as he stepped aside.

"Hi, Erza. Loke," Natsu greeted from his spot on the couch.

"Good afternoon, Natsu. How is everything?" Erza sked politely.

"Convenient that you ask, since I have someone I want to be investigated."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well who is it?"

Gray frowned. He didn't like where this was going. He was about to interrupt and stop Natsu but he was too slow.

"Karen Lilica. Do you know her?" Instead of an answer from Erza, which they had all expected, they got a seemingly feral growl from Loke.

"Hey… Loke, calm down…" Gray began.

"THAT BITCH!" the playboy roared. Natsu, having been sitting closest to him at the time, winced and covered his ears.

"A little warning next time would be much appreciated," he muttered.

"I knew she was rotten! I didn't think she was _this_ bad!" Loke snarled.

"First of all," Gray started, "we don't even know if it was her. It's only a guess. Second of all, I don't think Karen is the type of person who would try to _kill_ me just because I fired her."

"Regardless, Gray, I'm still going to ask Jellal to look into her for you. I trust this is fine, Natsu?" Erza asked. A brief nod was the answer she got and she reciprocated in acknowledgement. "In that case, I will be taking my leave. I'll drop by the office and let Jellal know."

"Wait! Erza!" Gray tried. His pseudo-sister turned to him, a sad smile on her face.

"Gray, please. I don't want you to get hurt anymore. Just let me and Natsu do our jobs, ok?"

Frowning but nodding, Gray reluctantly agreed.

* * *

Loke left soon after, still fuming over the possibility that his best friend was being targeted by someone who had abused one of his close friends. Gray huffed and crossed his arms, glaring petulantly at Natsu. The rosette raised an eyebrow at him while sipping some coffee that he had made earlier in the day.

"What's that look for, Gray? If you're waiting for me to apologise, it's not going to happen."

"Why did you even tell them in the first place?!" Gray demanded, exasperated.

"I wasn't planning on telling Loke. Erza had to know so that I could get a check done on the suspect," Natsu said simply. Gray scowled. While what Natsu was saying made sense, that didn't mean he had to like it.

Grabbing his coat, Gray made for the door, only to be stopped by a solid grip on his wrist.

"Let go."

"Where are you going?"

"The library," Gray answered, irritated.

"Happy, we're going to the library! I'll bring you back some fish later, ok?" Natsu called out. A faint "Aye!" was heard in the distance and Natsu grabbed his coat as well, following his charge out the door.

"Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to go to the library to _get away from you_?" Gray asked, dangerously close to losing his calm. Natsu shrugged nonchalantly.

"Maybe. But it's not like I can leave you alone, now is it?"

Gray only scowled and pressed the gas pedal harder.

* * *

The two ended up going out for dinner, making sure to buy some sushi for Happy. Just as the bill arrived, Natsu's cell phone rang.

"Hello? This is Natsu speaking," the rosette said. Gray was still angry at him, but when he distinctly heard Erza's voice on the other end of the call, his interest was piqued. "I see. Thank you, Erza. I'll let Gray know too then." With that the phone call ended.

"Well?" Gray asked expectantly as he took his wallet out to pay for their food.

"Karen is innocent. I think she was a little more than enraged when Jellal and his gang showed up at her door with a warrant to search her house though," Natsu quipped. Gray rolled his eyes, anger momentarily forgotten.

"You have a weird sense of humour."

"So I've been told."

"And yet you still make no effort to change?" A nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. Gray shook his head and sighed. Natsu suddenly straightened though and leaned forward.

"But, she did look like she was planning something. Jellal had her in custody for a little while but the investigation of what she was planning came up empty. I'll watch your back, but be careful, Gray." The raven looked like he was going to be sick, but nodded anyway.

Gray was reading in his bed when his phone rang. Confused as to who could be calling at this time of night and still wary from Natsu's earlier warning, he picked up hesitantly.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Gray!" The raven breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Lyon.

"Lyon. It's great to hear from you, man. How's Fairy Tail doing without me?"

"We're managing alright. Kind of hard to sign all these papers when they all look the same though," Lyon joked. Gray laughed, understanding all too well what that felt like.

The two chatted for a while longer before Gray decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for a while now.

"So why'd you call? It's pretty late."

"Ah, about that. Makarov-san said that you could start coming in again tomorrow. I thought you would want to know as soon as you could."

"That's awesome! Thanks for letting me know, Lyon." Unfortunately, whenever he thanked his surrogate brother, gloating was sure to ensue.

"Who's the most amazing one?" Lyon prompted.

Gray sighed in defeat, indulging his brother once again. "You are," he grumbled. Lyon laughed heartily before he bade him good night. Gray smiled and did the same, then made his way over to Natsu's room to let him know as well.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard the snoring. While Gray was excited at being allowed to return to his beloved company, he didn't think that he needed to wake Natsu up for it. The bodyguard must've been tired after all that research on Karen that he had ploughed through. So instead, he simply smiled and turned back towards his own room. He would tell Natsu the good news in the morning.

* * *

Natsu had noticed that his charge seemed… strangely happy this morning. Not that that was a bad thing. It was just that he was more used to quiet, moody Gray and not Flowers-And-Unicorns Gray.

"So…" Natsu began, taking a slow sip of his coffee. "What's got you in such a good mood this morning?"

Gray beamed up at him and Natsu was momentarily stunned. "Lyon called me last night. I can go back to work today!"

Natsu looked at him strangely. "That's the first time I've ever heard of someone who _wants_ to go to work."

"Shut up. It's boring sitting around here all day. I don't know how retired people do it."

Natsu grinned and finished off the rest of his breakfast. "To celebrate the occasion then, I'll drive you to work."

"You would've done it anyways," Gray pointed out.

"Shut up and accept the ride!"

When Gray arrived at Fairy Tail, the lobby was silent. Gray was confused. He wasn't expecting a party, but some "welcome backs" would've been nice. He looked at his receptionist Laki for an answer.

"Why's it so quiet in here Laki?"

The purple haired girl looked nervous when she replied. "Well… Gray-shachou…" she began.

"Gray Fullbuster. What a surprise," a voice said. Gray stiffened and sensed Natsu mimic the action from beside him. He turned and forced a smile onto his face.

"Minerva-san. What a surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure of seeing the president of Sabertooth Corporation?"

"Oh my? You didn't know?" Minerva asked, not sounding surprised in the slightest. Gray's initial discomfort was now replaced by ice cold dread settling into the bottom of his stomach.

"Didn't know what?" he whispered. Natsu shifted his weight from behind him, his senses on alert. This woman screamed dangerous and Natsu didn't like the way she was looking at Gray, as if she was picking him apart. Minerva smiled cruelly as she uttered the words that made the world fall out from underneath Gray's feet.

"You're no longer president of Fairy Tail. _I_ am."

* * *

 **So yeah. That happened. See you in March (hopefully!)**


	7. I See Fire

**Heyy!**

 **Sorry for missing March guys! I went on a trip and then got sick and with school and work and stuff... well life's been crazy.**

 **Now please keep in mind, I'm no business major, nor do I know much about corporations and how they work to begin with. This is a shot in the dark at best. If this isn't how it goes down in real life, then I'm very sorry :(**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Natsu watched Gray from the corner of his eye, concerned at the unmoving raven on the couch. Gray had been silently staring blankly at nothing since they had returned from Fairy Tail. Gray had completely shut himself off from the world.

Sighing, he eased himself off of the wall that he had been leaning against and sat down next to his charge, slinging an arm around him. Natsu didn't know what it was about his latest client, but something in him screamed for him to protect this man, even without the obligations of his job. Gray was special somehow. Natsu knew that much. He carded his hair through soft raven locks and hummed, recalling the events that had led them to this moment.

* * *

 _"_ _What do you mean_ you're _the president of Fairy Tail?!" Gray all but screamed. From where Natsu stood, he watched carefully, ready to spring into action if this Minerva person became a threat. However, the woman only scoffed and turned to her entourage behind her and brought out a blond man who didn't look much older than Gray himself._

 _"_ _Well to be technical, Sting here will be the president," she said as she gestured to her acquaintance._

 _"_ _Sting?!" Natsu shouted in disbelief._

 _"_ _Natsu-san!" Sting returned, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"_ _Gray is my charge…" Natsu answered slowly, still trying to piece together the reason as to why one of his old colleagues was suddenly in front of him, dressed up in a suit and tie and claiming a position much higher than what he ever thought Sting was capable of. Suddenly, Rogue's words resonated in his mind._

 ** _"_** ** _He's doing fine. He got hired at a very well-known company. I can't seem to recall the name though…"_**

 _Sabertooth?! It was_ _ **Sabertooth**_ _that hired Sting?! Fairy Tail's most competitive rival? Really, Natsu wished that Rogue could have given him more of a heads up instead of finding out like this: in the worst possible way._

 _"_ _Natsu-san, I didn't know you were working for Fairy Tail Corp!"_

 _"_ _I didn't know you were working for Sabertooth either."_

 _Minerva's voice cut into the tense yet casual conversation. "As nice as it is I'm sure for the both of you to see each other again, I believe Sting has some more important things to be doing. Such as preparing for Fantasia," she said pointedly. Gray's head snapped up in her direction._

 _"_ _This is a load of bullshit! There's no way!" he shouted._

 _"_ _Unfortunately, it is. Sting Eucliffe now owns 51% of the shares of Fairy Tail Corporation. You can even ask your receptionist."_

 _Gray turned his head to the lavender haired girl, who guiltily avoided his gaze. That was all the answer he needed and Gray was sure that everything around him was suddenly a shade darker than what it had been five minutes earlier._

 _"_ _Now if you'll excuse us," Minerva sneered smugly, "Sting and I have companies to run. Your time is up, Gray Fullbuster."_

* * *

Which brought them to where they were currently. Natsu sighed and brought Gray's head into the crook of his neck, close enough that he could smell the minty shampoo that the raven used.

"It'll be ok, Gray. I promise," Natsu said softly as he continued to run his fingers mindlessly through Gray's hair. A shuddering sob broke the silence and Natsu's heart clenched a little at the sound.

"Ur…" Gray hiccupped, too distressed to even bother stopping the tears running down his face. "I lost the last memento I had of Ur." Natsu frowned and wrapped his arms around the raven's shuddering frame. Gray made no noise as he cried, only shuddering and shivering in Natsu's warm hold. Natsu's expression softened and held onto the man in his arms tightly. He knew just how much a hug could do for someone grieving. He sure wished that someone had been around to give him one when he had needed it.

* * *

Gray eventually exhausted himself and fell asleep against Natsu's shoulder. Natsu watched the rhythmic breathing and the steady rise and fall of Gray chest. Smiling softly, he brushed the bangs out of Gray's eyes. He was just about to reach forward and touch Gray's cheek when he jolted and retracted his hand. What was he doing? He was getting too familiar with his client. He had never had this problem in the past, so what _was_ it about Gray Fullbuster that made him so… forward?

Sighing, he picked his sleeping charge up and carried him into his room. Natsu looked around and rolled his eyes at the amount of navy blue covering the room. Just about everything was either blue or white with the occasional splash of black. Laughing fondly, he shook his head. He would have to reintroduce the concept of bright colours to Gray when he woke up. Just as he set the slumbering man down, he blinked and realized what he had just thought. Groaning, he stood up and marched back to his room and closed the door. Damn Gray Fullbuster for being so distracting!

Natsu had decided to read one of the many books that Gray kept around the house. He was currently on chapter twelve of _The Hunger Games_ when a scream from the next room tore through the house. Happy was immediately startled but Natsu only stopped for a moment to reassure the cat that everything was fine before bolting down the hall into Gray's room. The raven was thrashing around in his bed fighting an unseen terror. Quickly, Natsu rushed forward and pinned Gray down. Gray nearly threw him off a couple of times, but Natsu had years and years of muscle training and was able to keep his hold on his charge.

"Gray! It's just a dream! Wake up!"

* * *

 _"_ _Hello?" Gray called. He found himself across the street from Fairy Tail Corp and watched as the office lights that he knew so well flicker on. He took a tentative step forward, only to find his feet stuck in place. Grunting with effort, he attempted to pull himself free, but to no avail. Gray glared at the ground angrily and only looked up when a familiar sound caught his attention._

 _Flames roared up in front of him and licked his feet hungrily as Gray stared, terrified. The flames brought back horrible memories, things that he would rather forget. He flinched away from them but the flames had no interest in him to begin with. They crept forward, heading towards the one thing Gray treasured most in the world._

 _"_ _No!" he shouted as the first floor of Fairy Tail Corp caught fire. He could hear the fire alarm being pulled in the distance, but no one was coming out of the burning building. He watched, helpless from where he stood, as the building and everyone in it was reduced to ash. Gray fell to his knees, eyes blown wide with shock. He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and turned to meet the stone cold gaze of his foster mother. His heart caught in his throat as his mouth opened and closed soundlessly._

 _"_ _U-Ur…"_

 _"_ _Don't call me that. You're no son of mine," she sneered and Gray felt bile rise up in his throat. "No child of mine would be so incompetent as to lose the company I worked so hard to build with Makarov and Gildarts. No child of mine would be so weak!"_

 _"_ _U-Ur… I…"_

 _"_ _What a disappointment you turned out to be."_

 _And that was when the world spiralled into black._

* * *

The first thing that Gray noticed when he woke up was that there was something extremely heavy on top of him, holding him down. The second was that he was covered in sweat. The third was that the "heavy something" was none other than his bodyguard, who was staring intently at him, black hues boring into midnight blue. When Gray gulped, Natsu visibly relaxed.

"Thank god you're awake," he said as he eased himself off of Gray. "You were screaming and crying and thrashing around and I tried to wake you up but shouting didn't work and neither did shaking and…yeah. Do you want to talk about it?" Natsu asked lamely. Gray shook his head slowly and propped his elbows up.

"What time is it?" he asked, his throat scratchy from the screaming.

"It's just after 7 in the evening. Are you feeling up to eating?" Gray shook his head solemnly. Natsu felt his expression soften and rolled over to lie next to Gray. "I see. Well in that case, you should probably shower and try to fall back asleep. I'll see you in the morning. And Gray?" he asked. Gray turned to meet Natsu's gaze, concern evident in the bodyguard's eyes.

"Yeah?"

"If you ever want to talk about your nightmare, you can come talk to me." With that, the rosette

left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Gray alone with his thoughts.

Gray was surprised, to say the least. If this was Erza or Lyon, they would definitely be dragging him down to his kitchen and force feeding him right about then. But no, Natsu seemed to realize that he didn't want to eat anything and would likely end up throwing up if he did. For that, Gray was extremely thankful to Natsu, because of all things, he seemed to _understand_. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and grabbed a change of clothes from the dresser. He needed a shower after that nightmare.

* * *

Gray, Natsu remarked, looked like absolute hell the next morning. His hair was in disarray and his blue eyes were bloodshot. The bags that had been accumulated through all-nighters that had begun to fade were now making a reappearance. It took all Natsu had not to comment on the raven's haggard appearance that morning.

Happy, however, did not have the same restraint.

"Wow, Gray," the cat stated. "You look awful." Natsu cringed as Gray forced a laugh and petted the blue cat's head softly.

"I know. I couldn't sleep much last night."

"Why? Did you have bad dreams?"

"Something like that, yeah." Even Happy knew not to push the topic any further after that.

Breakfast passed in silence and Gray didn't really look like he was eating, more like he was forcing food down his esophagus. Natsu watched his charge carefully and Happy joined in on the concern— blatantly obviously might he add— yet Gray never said a word. And even though Natsu had not known Gray for very long, he knew one thing for sure and that was this:

Gray was stubborn and proud and if he were in his right mind, he would _definitely_ be letting them have it right about then.

Natsu sighed and turned his attention back to his breakfast, shoving a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

When Gray excused himself to his room and slammed the door shut, Natsu expected him to stay cooped up in there all day. So when two hours later, the raven called out for Natsu to come to his room, he was pleasantly surprised.

"What is it?" Natsu asked. Gray's frame was tense in front of him, his guard raised. What for, Natsu did not know.

"I… I dreamed about Fairy Tail Corp," Gray began. Natsu leaned against the back of the door and watched Gray's expression carefully. The raven looked uncomfortable, to say the least. Natsu hummed as a prompt to continue as Gray took a deep breath.

"I was across the street. I wanted to go into it but my feet were stuck to the sidewalk. Then Fairy Tail caught on fire and I heard screaming inside. I-I tried to move towards it, but I couldn't, even after the whole thing burned to ashes. A-and then, Ur," Gray's voice broke, but he forced himself to continue. "She called me a disappointment. She said that I was weak and incompetent. And she was right! Lyon is so much more capable than I am!" he shouted.

Natsu was beside him in an instant, wrapping his arms around Gray's shaking body.

"You're not a disappointment, Gray. You're the best thing that ever happened to that company. Look at how well they've done under you. I'm sure Ur had a reason to choose you over Lyon. Don't ever mistake her intention, Gray," Natsu soothed. The two men stayed in their embrace for a few minutes before Gray lightly tapped Natsu, indicating that he was alright now and it was ok to let go. Natsu complied, although upset that he had to.

Natsu spent several moments standing there awkwardly as Gray composed himself. With a cough, the raven drew himself to full height and Natsu could almost believe that he was fine, if not for his red rimmed eyes.

"If I wanted to go somewhere… would you come with me?" Gray asked.

Natsu gave a blinding smile. "Lead the way, Gray!"

* * *

 **So what happened with Fairy Tail and Minerva is something called a hostile takeover. It's when 51% of the shares is bought out by an outside party and the ownership of the company changes (or at least to my knowledge).**

 **Let me know how it was!**


	8. Trips Down Memory Lane

**Sshh it's still May and therefore this is still the May chapter :P**

 **Dislcaimer: Don't own them!**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Gray shooed Natsu out and disappeared back into his room for a while. Natsu was almost worried that Gray had decided not to head out, so when Gray came out with his arms full of presents, Natsu was pleasantly surprised.

"Who are those for?" Natsu asked, eyeing the gifts with interest.

Gray gave a weak smile. "You'll see."

While Natsu doubted Gray's mental stability at the moment, he didn't know where the raven wanted to go, and so he let him drive.

That didn't stop him from being as tense as a bowstring during the whole ride though.

When Gray finally pulled to a stop in front of a faded and shady looking building with locked gates, Natsu eyed him cautiously.

What was Gray up to?

What was this place?

Was Gray safe here?

He didn't have much time to contemplate those thoughts as Gray rang the doorbell outside the gate.

"Who is this?" a female voice asked through the intercom.

"It's Gray, Mira."

"Oh, we weren't expecting you, Gray! Hold on, I'll open the gates."

Natsu watched the whole exchange warily.

"Gray… what's going on?" he asked, eyes darting around, searching for any sign of danger. Just as Gray opened his mouth to answer, the gates were opened and loud cheering could be heard inside.

"Gray-niichan!"

"It's Gray-niichan!"

A mob of children came flooding from the gates and pooled around Gray, grabbing at his pant legs and anything else they could reach. Gray chuckled and ruffled the hair of the kids closest to him.

"Hey guys. Have you been good?"

"Yes!" they all chorused. Natsu surveyed each child's face. Every single one was smiling brightly, despite the less than ideal living conditions they were in.

Looking around, Natsu couldn't see one uplifting thing about this place: it was in the middle of nowhere, it looked like a school (which automatically made it gross) and the exterior was decorated in fabulous shades of gray, black and white.

Hooray.

And yet the smiles on those kids' faces when they saw Gray was flooring. The place suddenly seemed to have life and vigor, all because of the appearance of "Gray-niichan". Natsu had to wonder how Gray knew these kids.

He opened his mouth to ask, only to be cut off by a tall, platinum blonde woman leaning against the gates.

"It's been a while, Gray. As always, they're happy to see you."

Gray looked up from the little boy that he had been talking to and gave a nod towards the woman.

"Mira," he greeted. "You're right, I should visit more often."

"Maybe, but that would make my job harder, Gray! You always distract the kids."

Gray chuckled. "It's not my fault that I'm more loveable."

"Ara, but I think they just want you for the presents," Mira pondered.

At the mention of presents, everyone perked up.

"Gray-niichan, did you bring us toys?" she asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

Gray smiled and leaned down, patting the girl on the head. "I did, Tammy. They're in the trunk of my car."

All the kids cheered and began thanking Gray in earnest, and honestly, Natsu felt like he was intruding on something special. It was obvious that those kids loved Gray more than anything. The affection and admiration in their eyes when they looked up at the raven was overwhelming and the way that Gray returned their awe with gentle movements and kind eyes made Natsu wonder if Gray was related to them. Natsu had only seen such affection and pride in the eyes of… parents.

"Gray-niichan, who's this?" a boy with blond hair asked, pointing at Natsu. The rosette flinched, having been paying too much attention to Gray that he lost track of his surroundings. He grumbled to himself internally. Rookie and possibly fatal mistake of a bodyguard.

Gray didn't seem to notice. "That's Natsu, Luke. He's a friend."

The blond, who couldn't have been much older than eight, looked up at Natsu with wide, innocent eyes. Natsu would deny this later, but he felt a little nervous. It had been _years_ since he had last spoken to a child.

"H-Hi, Luke. How are you?" Natsu asked, hoping that his little slip up wasn't noticeable.

Unfortunately it was, and Natsu would deal with Gray's snickering when they weren't in public.

Luke continued to stare at Natsu before breaking out into a wide grin and throwing himself around the bodyguard's legs. "Natsu-niichan!"

As if that was some sort of secret command, all the kids began rushing towards Natsu, trying to reach for the new visitor. Amongst the sea of children, Natsu was helpless. He looked to Gray pleadingly, only to find his charge trying and failing to hide his laughter. Mira also watched on, an amused smile on her beautiful features.

The chaos continued for a few more minutes until Mira decided to step in. She clapped her hands and Natsu wondered how the kids could hear that over the commotion they were making.

"Alright, let's let Natsu-san and Gray get your presents. You can wait for them inside."

"Yes, Mirajane-sensei!"

* * *

"Didn't peg you for the type to be bad with kids, Flame Brain," Gray teased as he picked up the last present.

"Shut up," Natsu mumbled, preoccupying himself with the gifts loaded in his arms. Gray chuckled as he closed the trunk.

"This is an orphanage, in case you haven't guess yet," he said quietly, gazing at the faded building with what seemed to be nostalgia. "These kids have nothing but Mira and me. No one comes to visit this place other than government officials on inspections or some crap like that."

Natsu watched the raven carefully. Something in his tone rang sharper than before.

"Sometimes I drop by if I have some time after work. I bring them some toys and some of the prototypes from Fairy Tail. The kids always go nuts," Gray reminisced fondly. Natsu's eyes softened.

"How long have you been doing this?" he asked softly.

"Ever since I took over the company officially," Gray answered. "I…I used to be an orphan here, until Ur came along, that is. I remember playing with the broken toys and reading books that I had already read over and over until I could recite them by heart; that was all you _could_ do. And then Ur came and gave me a new life. A better life." The raven took a shuddering breath and Natsu was left speechless. Red rimmed Gray's eyes but no tears fell down his pale cheeks.

"I see," Natsu said. What else was there to say? What _could_ he say?

"Come on. I'm sure the kids want to see their new toys."

* * *

"A drawing book!"

"A robot!"

"Lego!"

The happy exclaims of the children filled the room as they all unboxed the gifts that Gray had bought for them. What surprised Natsu the most was how each gift was different. Honestly, he had expected them all to be the same toy, something that each kid could be happy with. But no, the presents were all tailored to fit each child and their interests. The little girl from earlier—Tammy, Natsu remembered— had gotten a doll that looked exactly like her. She squealed happily and hugged it tightly to her chest. Natsu felt his heart swell. Gray stood in the center of the kids, assembling toys and explaining what each one did. Beside him, he heard a high pitched chuckle. He started, not having heard his companion sneak up on him.

"You look like a proud parent, Natsu-san," Mira quipped.

Natsu frowned. "If anyone is a proud parent here, it's either you or Gray."

Mira tilted her head to the side cutely. "Did I say anything about being proud of the kids?"

Natsu's cheeks flushed at the implication.

"Ara, ara, you aren't denying it," the platinum blonde pointed out.

"Shut up," Natsu mumbled. Mira laughed and Natsu couldn't help but notice that despite her teasing, she had quite a nice and melodic laugh.

"It's rare for Gray to bring anyone here. In fact, this is the first time it's happened. Who are you to Gray, Natsu-san?"

"Natsu is fine. I'm… well I guess you haven't heard. There was an attempt on his life a little while ago. I'm his bodyguard until we figure out who's after him." The cheery air around the woman dissipated immediately. Despite the noisy chatter of children in the background, it was as if the entire room had gone silent for Natsu.

"What did you say?" Mira asked calmly. Too calmly. Much too calmly for Natsu's like.

"There was an attempt to kill Gray," Natsu repeated.

More silence.

"And did you find the perpetrator yet?"

"I'm working on it with Erza, Jellal and a few of my associates."

"Good. When you find out who it is, let me know. God knows Gray won't."

Natsu fought the urge to shiver. This woman was scary when she was serious.

"Speaking of which," Mira said, her serious demeanor having vanished, "I haven't fully introduced myself. My name is Mirajane Strauss and I'm the… well everything really, of Kardia Orphanage." She extended her hand and Natsu gripped it firmly.

"Natsu Dragneel. I work for Dragon Slayer Corp. How did you get into this job, Mirajane-san?"

"Mira is fine," she said easily. Then her expression turned sad. "Has Gray…"

"Yeah, he told me," Natsu interrupted quickly, sensing the delicacy of the subject. Mira looked relieved.

"Ok. Well I first came here with my younger brother Elfman and my sister Lisanna. Our parents had just died in a car accident and we had an aunt here. She took us in at first and was very kind, but after a week or so, she changed. She got meaner and would throw things around and would start screaming at us for no reason. One day, she just dropped us off here and never came back."

Natsu clenched his fists and dug his nails into his palms. A soothing touch on his arm jolted him as he turned to look over at Mira who continued as if she hadn't stopped.

"We met Gray here. He had already been here for a month or two I think. He showed us around and would play with Lisanna and Elfman." Natsu tensed at the name Lisanna, but remained silent.

Surely, it couldn't be the same person.

"He never pushed us to talk and we never did it to him either. But something about Gray has always made me think that he hides a lot of pain behind the masks that he wears. He would sometimes get this faraway look in his eyes and he would come back to reality looking so broken… Lisanna, Elfman and I didn't know how to help him." Natsu looked sadly back to the raven. Gray was smiling and playing with the children and Natsu couldn't help but wonder if he saw himself in those kids.

"Makarov-san eventually adopted Gray who, as you know, took over Fairy Tail Corp. Lisanna went to live with a guy named Bickslow and Elfman got married to his girlfriend Evergreen." Mira tilted her head up, gazing at something that Natsu couldn't see.

"Me? I could've left if I wanted to. But if I left, then this orphanage would definitely be demolished. The old caretaker died a little before I took over and I couldn't bring myself to abandon these children. But more than anything…

"This is the place where I made so many memories with Gray and my siblings. I couldn't let it be destroyed. Besides, the kids brighten up my day. They're all so cute and loving. They'll grow up to be fine adults," she said proudly. Natsu smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," he replied, staring at Gray. "I'm sure they will be."

* * *

"So what did Mira talk to you about?" Gray started conversationally as they made their way back to Gray's house.

"Nothing much," Natsu answered. Gray waited for elaboration and when he got none, deflated. He had wanted to know what his childhood friend had been talking about with Natsu. He had seen the two in the corner talking quietly about something that had seemed important. Obviously, Gray had been preoccupied at the time and couldn't ask what was going on. More than once, however, Gray had caught Natsu staring at him. So when his bodyguard suddenly distanced himself, Gray grew concerned. Nevertheless, he pursed his lips and continued to drive.

"I see."

Natsu stared out the window, ignoring the telltale thumping of his heart. He had felt this sort of nervous anxiety before and after so long, he thought he would never have this sort of emotion rising in his chest again.

Thinking back to all the times he had looked at Gray and just _really looked_ , he should've realised this sooner. It was bound to happen. Heck, the amount of times he had teased Gray and mentally called him cute should've been a bright red indicator. But no, he had ignored the signs and dove headfirst, as always, into something that he didn't know how to deal with and hadn't had to deal with in a very long time.

He hadn't felt it in six years.

He hadn't felt it since Lisanna.

And now, staring out of the corner of his eye and the black haired young man who had a heart of gold, focussing on the road ahead of him, Natsu knew he was screwed.

He was already in too deep.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed! Leave me some reviews please?**


	9. Words Spoken and Unspoken

**Hey~ Look who's here with an update! And it's not on the last day of the month lol XD Anyway, hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Rights go to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?" Lyon roared, veins popping out of his forehead. The table of men in front of him were not deterred however at the display of rage.

"That is what we would like to know as well, Lyon," Makarov answered. "None of us signed the acquisition and the only person left who could've done so is you."

Lyon turned a shade of purple. "What are you implying, Chairman?!"

"I'm not implying anything, Lyon. Only that you are overreacting and that you must take a minute to calm yourself."

"My brother just lost what was rightfully his and you expect me to be calm?!"

"My my, Vastia-fukushachou," a voice interrupted. "You certainly are excitable."

Lyon turned and ground his teeth together, forcing biting words back.

"How can I help you, Minerva-san?"

"I was simply wondering where you were. I could not find you at your office and couldn't help but wonder. Tell me, Vastia-fukushachou, what are you doing here?"

Lyon could practically feel the smugness in her tone. "I'm simply here to discuss why we have had a change in management. I was not informed of this change and only wanted to be brought up to date."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "You do not have to inconvenience the board with a question that either myself or Sting Eucliffe, _the president_ , could easily answer."

"My apologies, Minerva-san," Lyon replied stiffly.

"I expected better of you, Vastia-fukushachou. I let the rest of the staff stay, despite their obvious hesitance to work for a different person, but perhaps I was wrong in that judgement."

Lyon could barely contain himself. "It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Now, come with me and we will get you updated on the latest changes."

Lyon had no choice but to follow the devil out the door.

* * *

When Gray and Natsu returned to Gray's house, Natsu immediately shut himself up in his guest room. Gray and Happy watched him suspiciously but said nothing at the strange behaviour. Gray simply sighed, ran his hand through his hair and left for the living room.

Happy frowned and trotted up the stairs. He heard no noise from Natsu's room and knocked softly.

"Natsu?"

No response.

Cautiously, Happy opened the door, entered, and closed it behind him with a soft click.

Natsu was lying on the bed, his arms behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Happy curled up on his chest and looked into his eyes. Natsu met the gaze distractedly.

"What's wrong, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Just a few things on my mind, Happy. It's not a big deal."

"Gray is worried about you."

Natsu chuckled. "You should tell him that it's supposed to be the other way around."

Happy's frown deepened as he crawled further up Natsu's chest. "What's bothering you, Natsu? Can't you tell me?"

Natsu smiled wistfully and petted the cat on his head. "You wouldn't really understand, Happy. I don't even really get it either. That's why I don't know what to do."

"What if you talked to someone? Would that make it better?"

"I don't know, Happy. Who could I talk to about…"

Natsu trailed off, a finger poised in the air as a brilliant idea dawned on him.

"Happy, you're a genius!"

"Aye!"

Gray was watching TV when thunderous footsteps down the stairs and into his living room jolted him.

"Gray! Can I borrow your phone?" Natsu shouted.

Gray was still trying to calm his racing heart when he answered, "Why?"

"I need it!" Natsu shouted.

"What for?"

"I just need it," was the stubborn insistence.

With a sigh, Gray pulled his phone out and unlocked it, handing it over to Natsu wordlessly.

"I swear if you break my phone or install some tracking device or something I'm going to…"

Natsu was gone before he even got the chance to finish his sentence.

"…kill you."

* * *

Natsu quickly scrolled through Gray's contacts, and upon finding the one he was looking for, quickly pressed call and held the phone up to his ear.

 _"_ _Gray? What is it?"_

"It's Natsu, Lucy!"

 _"_ _Natsu! Why do you have Gray's phone?"_

"Don't sweat the details! Are you alone?" Natsu asked, hushed.

 _"_ _Yes..._ " came the wary answer.

"I need advice for something, Lucy."

 _"_ _What is it?"_

"Umm… I have this friend, who has this person that they work for, but my friend thinks he might have feelings for the person they work for."

Lucy's voice gushed excitedly over the phone. _"And?"_

"Well, they're not sure whether or not they should do something."

 _"_ _Why's that?"_

"They didn't meet that long ago and… well they're both the same gender."

Lucy's voice sighed. _"Love is love, Natsu. It doesn't matter who it is, why it happened or how it happened. All that matters is how they feel about each other._ "

"But what will other people think?"

" _Who cares what they think? What is your gut telling you, Natsu?_ "

Silence. What _was_ Natsu's instinct telling him?

"… I don't know yet."

" _You'll know soon enough._ "

"That wasn't very helpful, Lucy."

" _Hey!_ You _were the one who wanted my advice!_ "

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked nervously. "This is for my friend."

" _Uh-huh. That's why you answered with 'I' earlier._ "

Natsu hung up before he could listen to more of Lucy's laughter.

* * *

"Gray? Where are you?" Natsu called out, the silence in the living room unnerving him. He hadn't been on the phone for very long and was beginning to worry. Normally, Gray would answer his calls immediately.

Rounding the corner and entering the kitchen, Natsu stilled. Greeting him was the sight of a trashed kitchen. Pots and pans were dented, stains were splattered on just about every surface they could find and in the middle of the catastrophe sat Gray, staring wide eyed at something he couldn't see. Natsu stiffened at the words written on the wall in what was most likely tomato juice but that didn't matter to Gray. All he was seeing was the message and Natsu could already see the beginnings of a mental breakdown. Cursing, he knelt down and stared deep into Gray's dark blue eyes.

"Gray? Gray. Listen to me. Those words aren't true. Don't listen to them. Whoever wrote that down has no idea what they're talking about."

Gray shook his head, seemingly not hearing. Natsu was going to shake him lightly when Gray whispered, "It's true…"

Natsu immediately snarled. "Fuck no. Don't you dare think like that." When Gray didn't seem to respond, Natsu fidgeted before pulling Gray into him so that his back was at Natsu's chest. Natsu just held onto the raven, content to let him calm down in his warm embrace.

Because, really, what were you supposed to tell a person who just saw "YOU SHOULD BE DEAD" written in red on their kitchen walls?

"Someone knows," Gray whispered.

Natsu tightened his hold fractionally. Not enough for Gray to notice, but enough for him to feel more at ease. "I don't know what it is you're talking about, but I won't let anybody hurt you, Gray. Paid or not."

"Someone was _in my house_. They know where I live!" Gray shouted, seemingly not hearing him.

"Gray! Listen to me. I won't let anyone hurt you, you hear me? All who try are going to be getting acquainted with my fist."

Gray shook his head, lost in his thoughts. Natsu frowned as he hugged the raven tighter, both for Gray's sake and his own.

Natsu didn't release Gray until the raven's heartbeat slowed to a normal pace. Knowing that Gray wouldn't like to be in this position, he reluctantly let go of his charge, already missing his warmth.

"You ok?" Natsu asked carefully.

For a long moment, Gray didn't answer. When he slowly shook his head in an admission of weakness, Natsu's heart clenched.

"Do you want to eat some dinner? It's getting a little late."

Again, a pitiful shake of the head.

"Do you want to rest?"

There was a pregnant silence before Gray mumbled something quietly.

"What was that?" Natsu asked.

"…Not alone, I don't."

Oh.

"Would you like it… if I held you?"

An imperceptible nod. That alone spoke volumes for what Gray was feeling.

"Can you wait until I clean up this mess and finish dinner? It won't take a long time, maybe an hour and a half altogether."

"Okay." With that, Gray slowly stood and seated himself on a chair at his table, staring blankly at his tablecloth. Natsu sighed and turned to find the cleaning tools.

* * *

Two hours later, Natsu was sitting in Gray's bed with Gray lying down, facing him. The raven's dull blue eyes seemed to bore into his soul, accusing him of something that Natsu didn't want to find out. He hesitantly pulled the deep blue covers over both him and Gray, blanketing them in its warmth.

"Try to get some sleep, Gray." It was more of a plea than anything.

"…If I sleep, I'll only see her."

"Gray, you're emotionally exhausted! I really doubt that you'll dre—"

"Tell me about yourself," Gray said suddenly.

"What?"

"Tell me about your past."

"Gray I don't—"

"It's only fair," Gray pointed out quietly.

Natsu took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't remember my mom. She died when I was born; the doctors couldn't save her in time. My dad was a firefighter. He died a couple of years ago in a bad house fire. After that, I moved in with Gildarts. I went to Fiore College and got hired right out of college at Dragon Slayer Corp. it was owned by one of my old friends, Zeref, so that's how I got the job."

"I see."

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

"It's only fair," Gray echoed dully and Natsu winced at the tone. "I used to live up in Isvan when I was younger. My mom and dad were… killed by a serial arsonist named Deliora. I almost died that night but a firefighter saved me just as I passed out. When I woke up, I was in the hospital and Ur and Lyon were sitting in beside me. It turned out that Ur had been on a business trip and saw the fire. She called the ambulance and firetrucks for me and followed me to the hospital. They took me in and cared for me. I… I had a family again." Gray's voice cracked and Natsu placed a hand on his upper arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"I lived like that for about six years. Or maybe it was seven. I'm not really sure. I didn't keep track of these things, you know?" Gray attempted to make his tone light, but was failing miserably. Natsu didn't have the heart to point that out.

"And then…" Gray laughed, a low and cynical sound. "Of all the shitty luck. Deliora struck again. This time… this time, Ur saved me. But I had to watch it all happen again. Everything in front of me… everything I loved, _burning_ _right in fucking front of me_ and I couldn't do anything! Not when I was with my parents, not when I was with Ur and not now."

Natsu didn't know if God was real, but if he was, Natsu wasn't exactly on his way to heaven with the thoughts that he was thinking.

Natsu scooted closer to Gray and hesitantly put his arm around Gray's waist. The tension seemed to drain out of Gray as he relaxed under the touch.

"I'll protect you," he said simply. _From your past. From whoever's out to get you. From whatever's hurting you. From yourself._

* * *

 **Sorry it's kinda short. Exams were brutal. At least it's the summer! Leave me some reviews?**


	10. Without Its Soul

**Whoops I left on a trip and didn't get to write, heh heh. But I'm here with the next chapter and we're finally in double digits! Sorry I made you guys wait, but I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Sting made his way to his office, pretending not to see how his employees avoided his gaze. They were nice enough and diligent enough—except for the stupid ass marketing department— but Sting knew deep in his heart that they didn't really want him here.

Sighing, he closed the door to his office, only to run into his secretary.

"Umm… Eucliffe-shachou," she began.

Sting held up a hand to stop her. "Sting is fine. I'm not really one for the formal titles and stuff," he grinned sheepishly.

The blue haired girl nodded slowly as if weighing his words. "Sting-san, then. These documents came in for you to sign," she reported as she handed him a stack of papers.

Sting let out a whistle. "This is the most work that I've done since coming here," he joked. His secretary did not smile back. Sting sighed. He didn't understand how to get his workers to loosen up. Was he really that bad of a boss?

"Is there anything you need me for, Sting-san?" the petite girl's voice broke through his thoughts.

Shaking his head, Sting tried for a smile. "I'm good. Thanks…"

"Levy," the secretary supplied, looking like she was trying very hard to hide tears.

"Right. Levy-san. Thanks."

* * *

During lunch break, Sting decided to head down to the food court instead of going across the street like he usually did. Just as he turned away from the counter to look for a seat, he heard his name.

"Sting-san!" a blonde girl was calling to and waving at him. He didn't really know her, but she obviously knew him. The least he could do was see what she wanted.

"Hi. I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked as politely as he could. A brief look of hurt flashed across the blonde's face before it was quickly wiped away with a bright smile.

"Ah, I haven't seen you much so I guess you don't know me. Plus, you've only been here for a couple of days. I'm Lucy Heartfilia and I work in Human Resources at Fairy Tail Corp! It's nice to finally meet you, Sting-san!"

"Ah… Likewise, Lucy-san."

"If you aren't sitting with anybody, how about sitting with me and my friends?"

"…Sure."

Lucy's friends, as it turned out, were all employees from Fairy Tail. Go figure.

"Lucy, why is Sting-san here?" a strawberry blond asked, none to politely.

"Well I figured that he only really knew Levy-chan so I invited him to sit with us!" Lucy explained with cheer that was too exaggerated to be real.

"Tch. Why would you do that?" a muscular man with more piercings that Sting could count asked.

"Gajeel!" Levy reprimanded.

"You know it's true, Squirt. Blondie has just invited the guy who replaced our friend to sit with us and talk about the weather."

Sting frowned. He wasn't just going to take this. "Look, I haven't been here very long and I know that Gray Fullbuster was an extremely important person to you all, but I don't understand why everyone is making such a big deal out of this. If you don't want me here, I'll leave the table. But I won't leave Fairy Tail Corp. Not when it's been entrusted to me by Minerva-san."

An uneasy silence reigned over the table. There was a sigh before the black haired guy shifted his seat over to make room for another chair in between him and Lucy. Sting pulled an empty chair from the adjacent table, sat down and dug into his lunch. Not another word was spoken for the remainder of lunch.

* * *

"Who do they think they are," Sting grumbled as he trudged down the hall towards his office, Levy trailing behind him.

"Just because I'm not Gray, they think they can give me attitude! We'll see about that!"

"Ah..." Levy began, only to close her mouth and look to the floor dejectedly.

Sting still heard her though.

"What is it, Levy?" he asked, making his tone softer. His secretary hadn't done anything wrong, after all.

The bluenette shook her head. "I'll tell you inside your office."

Sting raised an eyebrow but continued down the hall.

* * *

"So. What did you want to say earlier?" Sting asked.

Levy bit her lip nervously and avoided his gaze. "I've noticed that you are curious about Gray and how he interacted with the staff of Fairy Tail."

"Yeah?"

"Well… I was just thinking that you could leave some work for Vastia-fukushachou and ask the staff what they thought of Gray."

"Would he do that?" Sting asked skeptically. In his experience, pushing work to his subordinates usually didn't end well for either of them.

"I'm sure Vastia-fukushachou won't mind _too_ much. Go on, I'll cover for you," she encouraged with a smile. A weak smile, but still a sincere one.

Sting returned her kindness with a grin of his own. "Thanks, Levy. I'm lucky to have you. Speaking of which, can I start with you?"

"Oh! Umm… ok. What would you like to know, Sting-san?" she asked, a blush on her pretty features.

"How did you get to know Gray-san?"

"Gray and I are actually childhood friends. We go way back! He came to Magnolia when he was 9 years old, I think. Maybe 10? We were in a class with Lucy and Loke."

"I see. Did you guys keep in contact all throughout university and stuff?"

"Oh yeah! I studied business administration with him. We got pretty close after comparing notes and studying for exams together," she laughed as she scratched the back of her head. Sting nodded in understanding.

"And did he offer you the job because you two were friends?" he asked.

"Oh god, no!" Levy said, looking appalled. "He did offer me an interview but there was never a guarantee that I would get the job. He actually wasn't even the one who conducted the interview: Vastia-fukushachou was."

"Huh. Why are you so close to him? From what you've told me, it doesn't seem like you two are any more than good friends. Unless…"

"No! No!" Levy said, waving her hands in front of her, cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Gray and I aren't like that! In fact, I don't think Gray has dated at all!"

"Then what's the deal?" Sting asked, genuinely curious.

"… I'm going to have to be a bit vague, Sting-san, out of respect for Gray's privacy."

"That's fine," he responded, confused.

"Gray… went through an extremely hard time in his life during our fourth year in university. He was actually at risk of not graduating. Seeing him like that… it really woke me up, you know? Gray had always been encouraging me and been there for me and I wanted to do the same. So I want Gray to be happy." The bluenette looked so wistful that Sting didn't know what to say other than,

"I see…"

"If you don't mind my saying so, Sting-san, I think you should talk to Vastia-fukushachou next."

"How come?" he asked.

Levy looked surprised. "You didn't know? Vastia-fukushachou and Gray are adoptive brothers."

* * *

"Can I help you, Eucliffe-san?" Lyon asked, not looking up from the papers he was looking over. Sting sighed. He had tried time and time again to try and get the man to call him by his given name, only to fail. If Sting didn't know any better, he would think that Lyon was doing it out of spite.

…Now that he thought about it, he probably was.

"I heard that you and Gray-san are adoptive brothers."

Lyon stilled for a moment before continuing pouring over his papers. "From who?"

"Levy-san."

"…I see."

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about Gray-san, Lyon-san?"

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, Eucliffe-san."

"It won't take long."

"Fine. Ask your questions," Lyon conceded, still not looking up.

"How did you meet Gray-san?"

"Ur and I found him after a firefighter brought him out of the remains of his house. Ur had called an ambulance and some firetrucks for him and she stuck around to see everything play out."

Sting didn't know who Ur was, and he didn't think it was his place to ask, so he ignored the detail. "The remains of his house?"

"It was burning when we got there." He didn't explain any further.

"Ah. How did you get this job?" Sting asked, eager to get away from the current topic.

"It was left in Ur's will that she wanted me to take over Fairy Tail Corp as its Senior Executive Vice President."

"My… condolences," Sting offered awkwardly.

Lyon finally looked up to face him but quickly turned his attention back to his paperwork as he waved off Sting's words. "Don't bother. I've heard it all before. Any other questions?"

"Does that mean that Gray-san was in Ur-san's will too?"

"Yeah. She wanted him to take over the company." Lyon's gaze, though physically concentrated on the paper, was far away, staring into memories of the past. Sting didn't know what to say to the other man, too overwhelmed by the fact that he had literally stomped over a mother's last wishes for her son.

"… _Oh_."

* * *

"I heard from the Shrimp that you've been asking people about the boss," Gajeel noted.

Sting turned from the elevator that he had been about to step in his interest piqued. "I have been. What's it to you?"

"Who have you asked so far?"

Sting raised an eyebrow. Compared to his first meeting with the head of Fairy Tail's security, it seemed like the man had completely changed his personality. "Levy-san and Lyon-san so far. Do you mind if I ask you, Gajeel-san?"

Gajeel harrumphed. "Go ahead."

The two stepped inside the elevator and Sting watched as the doors closed to complete and reveal Fairy Tail's logo in dark blue. "How did you meet Gray-san?"

"Through Levy. She was talking to me about a guy that she had classes with and I wanted to meet him."

"Ah, I see. Umm… are you and Levy-san…"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"But back then, I wasn't worthy of Levy."

"I don't understand."

"Back then, I was a good-for-nothing scumbag. I picked fights a lot and at one point I was part of a gang."

"Really?" Sting asked, more out of courtesy and fake disbelief than anything else.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "I don't need your fake ass sentiment. You and I both know, looking at me, that I don't exactly fit the description of an upstanding citizen."

Sting's silence was all the answer both of them needed.

"Anyway, I met him in a café with Levy. When I talked to him, he was easy to get along with. Didn't talk all that much, but he did want to get to know me. Later though, when Levy went to get a refill, he showed his true colours." Gajeel gave a grin before continuing. "He told me that he knew that I wasn't exactly on Santa's Nice List and so he told me to shape up. I told him that there wasn't any way that I was going to do that just because he told me to. That little shit, do you know what he said?"

Sting shook his head, curious.

"He told me 'I won't let you anywhere _near_ Levy if I think that you're bad for her. And right now, I don't think you're good for her,'" he laughed, his tone grudgingly respectful.

Sting's eyes bugged. Thinking back on the pale and shell-shocked raven from the lobby, he couldn't believe that the man had done something like that and to somebody so… threatening looking.

"I think that made me snap out of it," Gajeel admitted, looking up at the roof of the elevator. "I applied for college so that I could get a job. I knew that I was only good with my fists so I knew that I wanted to do something that involved security. But more than that, I realised that I wanted to be able to protect Levy.

"Around my third year, I met with Gray again at the same café as the first time. And again, when Levy went to get a refill of her drink, that idiot turned to me with the dumbest smile on his face and said 'I approve,'" Gajeel scoffed. "Later on that year, he said he would offer me a job at Fairy Tail because he trusted me."

Looking back down at Sting, he said seriously, "Gray saved me. And that's why even though I know that you're probably a good person, I can't help but dislike you a bit. Sorry." The elevator dinged pleasantly as the doors opened. Gajeel stepped out silently, leaving Sting to think about what he had just been told.

* * *

"Sting-san! What brings you here?" Lucy asked. Loke looked up from the side of the counter and glared at him accusingly.

"Hi, Lucy-san. I just wanted to ask you and Loke-san a few questions, if you don't mind."

"Q-Questions? Of course!" Lucy stuttered out, her eyes darting nervously between him and Loke.

"Uhh… So how did you two get to meet Gray-san?"

"What does Gray have to do with anything?" Loke asked rudely.

Lucy frowned at him disapprovingly. "Loke! Be nice!"

The strawberry blond crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "We met him back in fourth grade and then we went to university together. He went to study business administration and Lucy and I studied human resources management. Lucy also has a degree in psychology."

"Ah. Are you two close with Gray-san?"

"We're his childhood friends. Of course we are."

"Loke! Apologise!" Lucy scolded.

"I don't think I want to. This guy and his friends literally stole the most important thing our best friend had, Lucy! They took the last memento he had of his foster mother and you expect me to just be ok with this?! You saw what a wreck he was!"

"That may be so, but you can't take it out on Sting-san!"

"He probably doesn't even care that he did it!" Loke continued, ignoring Lucy's outburst. "He's probably just enjoying the fact that he got his position easy and doesn't give a damn about the guy whose life he just _ruined_!"

"Loke…" Lucy started, her eyes watering.

"He's that important to all of you, huh?" Sting asked quietly. The pair turned to him, one with eyes full of tears and another with eyes full of rage.

"He's _family_ ," Loke hissed before turning and disappearing into his office.

"I'm sorry, Sting-san. He's just been taking this really hard. Gray is like his brother," Lucy explained as she wiped away her tears.

"It's just not the same, is it?" Sting asked quietly.

"He's been different since Gray left," Lucy said. "The entire company has."

"Yeah. I've noticed."

* * *

 **Hmm seems like Natsu's not the only one who's protective over Gray ;) See you next time and leave me a review if you have time!**


	11. Full Circle

**Thanks for sticking around guys :)** **Sorry for the long wait! University is brutal ;w; Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

When Sting returned to his office at the end of the day, he saw a card on his desk that hadn't been there earlier. On it, a single address was written. Just looking at it, Sting didn't recognise it. Sighing, he pulled up Google Maps on his phone as he grabbed his briefcase.

Sting pulled up in his white Cadillac at the most rundown building he had ever seen. He double checked his phone. He was definitely in the right place. But who had left the address of some old piece of rubble for him to find?

"Gray-niichan!" a voice called. Sting's head snapped up as he looked around for the source of the voice. Through the gate, he could see children running up to a raven and a rosette. Judging by the earlier voice, he guessed that the raven was Gray and the rosette was Natsu, although he couldn't be completely sure.

But really, how many people were there with _pink hair_?

The kids surrounding the pair soon broke apart when a platinum blond girl ushered them all inside for dinner. He watched as the raven entered the old building, curious as to what he was doing there. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the rosette had now moved in front of him.

"Whoa!" Sting exclaimed as he backed away from the gate.

"Sting," Natsu greeted.

"Hey, Natsu-san. How're you?"

"Fine. You, Sting?"

"I've… been doing alright."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at his hesitation. "Something the matter?"

Sting bit his lip and stared at the ground. "…Aren't you upset with me, Natsu-san?"

"What for?"

"I took your charge's home away from him."

There was a long silence before Sting dared to look back up. When he did, he was surprised to find no hatred in Natsu's expression.

"I'm definitely not pleased. But I know that you didn't intend to hurt Gray, so I'm no mad at you, Sting."

"Natsu-san…"

"Natsu!" a voice that Sting recognized as Gray's called from the doorway. "Are you coming in or what?"

The rosette turned to acknowledge his charge. "Yeah! I'll be there in a sec!" Turning back to Sting, he offered the younger man a smile. "See you around, Sting."

Sting closed the door to his car softly. He leaned back against the seat and sunk into it.

"What should I do?"

* * *

The next day, Sting was greeted with the sight of a cop in front of the doors. She seemed to zero in on him and Sting watched nervously as she marched up to him.

"Sting Eucliffe?"

"Yes. How can I help you, Officer…" Sting snuck a look at her nametag, "…Scarlet?"

"I've been told that you've been asking about Gray Fullbuster. Is that true?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, trying not to let his nerves show.

"What are your reasons for doing so?"

"Uhh… with all due respect, Officer Scarlet, I don't see why I should expla—"

"I'm a friend of his," the redhead said.

Sting sighed. "Why don't we go grab some coffee, Scarlet-san."

* * *

"So how did you meet Gray-san, Scarlet-san?"

"Erza is fine. I met him when he was in fourth grade and I was in seventh, but I only started talking to him a year later. I was friends with Lucy and Loke but I'd never really talked to him. He was the new kid and he was withdrawn around everybody but those two," Erza said as she sipped her coffee. She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, he's still pretty shy."

Sting laughed. "Is that so?"

"Mmhmm," she hummed. "You wouldn't think it, but at fancy parties and social events, Gray tends to stick to the shadows."

"It seems like you're very observant of Gray-san," Sting pointed out.

Although he meant nothing by it, Erza's eyes softened over the comment. "Yes, I suppose I am. I'm so used to taking care of him that I do it without noticing."

"'Taking care of him?'" Sting asked.

"It's not my place to say what happened. But I'm more or less his older sister figure."

"I saw Gray-san yesterday at an orphanage," Sting brought up.

"Did you?" the redhead asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's essentially where Gray spends his free time."

"Why?"

"Again, it's not my place to say, Sting-san. Just know that that place is special to him."

"Ahh… ok."

Erza took another sip of her coffee. "How did he seem?"

"Huh?" Sting asked. "Oh! He looked fine. Natsu-san was there with him."

"Oh? Well that's good. I'm glad that Gray's not alone."

Sting looked at her, confused. Natsu was his bodyguard, of course he would be with him! But before he could ask Erza what she meant, she stood and put some money on the table.

"Thank you for indulging me, Sting-san. I have to leave for my shift now. Have a good day."

"Uhh… yeah. Have a good day, Erza-san."

Sting sighed as he let his weight fall into his chair. That talk with Erza hadn't helped him at all. He still didn't know what to do. On one hand, if he went through with this, Minerva-san would be furious with him. She had pulled a lot of strings to make this happen and here Sting was, thinking about ruining it.

But on the other hand, it was clear that no one was happy with the company as it was now. Sting could try everything he could to make friends with his subordinates, but it would never be the same. He just didn't have the history that Gray did with them. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

"What should I do?"

* * *

Sting sat with Lucy again during his lunch break. The tension in the air was even thicker than yesterday. This time, Lucy didn't even bother trying to lighten the atmosphere. Levy studiously avoided meeting everyone's eye and Loke glared into his burger like it was Sting.

Needless to say, Sting ate as quickly as he could.

Just as he finished throwing away his garbage, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Picking it up, he quickly checked the caller ID before answering.

"Yo, Rogue! What's up?" he asked, faking his cheer as well as he could.

There was a pause on the other end before his best friend answered. " _What's wrong?_ "

Sting flinched and was grateful that Rogue wasn't actually there to see it. "What're you talking about?"

" _Don't give me that bull, Sting. I've known you for years. I think I can tell when you're upset._ "

Sting sighed as he pushed a door open, beginning to head back to the office. "I'm not sure about what I'm doing anymore."

" _How so?_ "

"I was really excited about this new position in the beginning. But I've been working here a little over a week and… well…"

" _It's not what you thought it would be?_ " Rogue asked.

"It's not that. It's just that… well it feels like I'm a horrible person."

" _Why?_ "

"Fairy Tail… was a gift from Gray's deceased mother to him. I just stole it from him."

" _Sting…_ "

"And all his friends are here. It just doesn't feel right, you know?"

" _So are you thinking of…_ "

"Yeah. I am."

" _But?_ " Rogue inquired, knowing there was more.

"I know that Minerva-san will hate me."

" _Is that more important to you?_ "

"No… I guess it's not. Thanks, Rogue."

" _No problem, Sting._ "

"So why did you call in the first place?"

" _It doesn't matter anymore. And Sting?_ "

"Yeah?"

" _If you ever need help, let me know._ "

"I know. Thanks, Rogue."

Sting ended the call and sat at his desk, thinking. He stayed that way for a few minutes before straightening, his mind made up. Pressing his intercom, he said,

"Lyon-san? Can you come up here for a moment?"

* * *

Lyon left the meeting in complete silence, leaving Sting feeling rather confused. He had expected the silver haired man to be more excited. Oh well, that wasn't his main concern. He picked up his phone and began scrolling through his contacts quickly. He stopped at one of his recently added numbers and pressed the call button. The dial tone sounded three times before someone picked up.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hello, Makarov-san? It's Sting. I'd like to talk to you about something. Can I schedule a meeting with you at some point today?"

* * *

Gray's cellphone buzzed in his pocket as he drove down the street. He dug through his pocket as quickly as he could and tossed his phone to Natsu in the passenger seat.

"Natsu, can you get that for me?"

"Yeah. Hello?" the rosette answered.

" _GRAY YOU HAVE TO TURN ON THE TV!"_ came the loud the reply.

Natsu rubbed at his ears. "Oww…" he muttered as he put the phone on speaker.

"Lucy?" Gray asked. "What's the problem?"

" _There isn't one but you have to turn on your TV right now!"_

"Why?"

 _"Just turn it on, Gray!"_ Loke's voice piped in from the background.

"I'm driving right now!"

 _"How far are you from your house?"_

"I just parked," Gray said as he turned the engine off. He quickly took his phone back from Natsu and walked briskly up to his front door, searching his pockets for his keys.

 _"GRAY!"_

"Alright already, god!" Gray exclaimed as he finally found his keys and unlocked his front door. He didn't bother to take his shoes off and made his way straight to his living room, shouting out in greeting to Happy. He heard Natsu follow him and enter the den just as he turned his TV on.

"Which channel?"

 _"The news!"_

"Ok. I'll call you back after then."

 _"Wait, Gray don't—"_

With a quick push of a button, the news anchor's face popped up on his television.

" ** _… and the biggest story of the day: Fairy Tail Corp's new president, Sting Eucliffe has_** _stepped down_ _ **from his position!**_ "

"What?!" Gray shouted as he stood up from his seat. Natsu was there at his side instantly, calming him down.

"Gray, calm down! You don't have the full story yet!"

"That bastard!" Gray spat, fighting Natsu's hold on him. "He got Fairy Tail and now he's giving it away to somebody?! Let _go_ of me, Natsu!"

"You haven't heard everything yet, Gray! Maybe he's giving it to Lyon or something!"

That got him to settle down. Gray hesitantly retook his seat on the armchair. During his little fit, the news had changed to Sting's questioning outside of Fairy Tail, no doubt having been hounded the second he stepped out. Cameras flashed on screen as all the reporters, photographers and cameramen tried to get a glimpse of the young man.

"Eucliffe-san! What is your reasoning for stepping down as president?"

" _Ah… well those are personal reasons,"_ Sting said for the cameras, an uncomfortable smile gracing his features.

"Sting-san, how do you feel now after having stepped down?"

 _"Well…"_

"Sting-san, who will be the next president?!"

The general buzz of the media quieted slightly as they awaited the answer to the question that everyone was asking.

 _"Ah, I can answer that. I'm sure you're all very familiar with this person too,"_ he said with a smile. _"The new president of Fairy Tail Corp is going to be none other than Gray Fullbuster, the president before me. Everything has already been sorted out. Lyon Vastia, as well as the board of directors, will be taking care of the paperwork."_

There was silence both onscreen and in Gray's living room. Back on the recording of Sting's impromptu interviews, the crowd erupted into questions while Gray simply sunk further into his armchair and covered his eyes with his hand. Natsu looked over to his charge carefully.

"Gray?" he asked quietly.

Gray didn't feel like speaking so he let the tears of joy cascading down his cheeks do the talking.

* * *

Sting sighed as he pulled up to the parking lot of his apartment complex. The media had been exceedingly difficult to lose and as a result, he was completely exhausted. He all but dragged himself to the elevator only to find it out of order.

"Just my luck," he grumbled as he headed for the stairs.

Closing the door to his apartment, Sting leaned his head back against it and paused. He knew that this essentially meant the end of his job at Sabertooth, but he also knew in his heart that this was what he should do.

Fairy Tail didn't belong to him.

He eased himself off of the door and checked his answering machine. There were more than twenty from several reporters, all of which Sting deleted. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with them. The last voicemail was from none other than Minerva and it only confirmed what Sting had already guessed: that he had been fired. The blond ran his hand through his hair and exhaled. Back to newspapers and help wanted signs then.

Just as he was about to start making dinner, the phone rang. Groaning, he let it go to his answering machine. No doubt it was another one of those annoying reporters.

However, he was pleasantly surprised when the voice of his best friend carried from the speakers.

 _"Sting, it's Rogue. I know you're probably at your wit's end dealing with reporters and all that, but if you're not busy, give me a call, alright? There's something I want to talk about with you."_

Curious, Sting did just that.

* * *

Gray walked up to the familiar doors of Fairy Tail Corp the next morning still a little dazed. Natsu followed behind him, his grin blinding. He placed a hand on Gray's shoulder and squeezed tightly.

"It's yours, Gray."

To his surprise, one of Gray's hands came up and rested over his, squeezing as well.

"I know… it's just… so hard to believe. I lost Fairy Tail… and now I have it again."

Natsu grinned. "Well maybe you should go in. I bet everyone missed you."

Letting out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding, Gray pushed open the doors, only to be caught in a flying tackle. He was fell backwards, only to be caught by Natsu. The rosette simply smiled at him and helped to right him. Gray tried not to turn red.

"GRAY!" Lucy shouted as she hugged him tightly. "You're back!"

He gasped for breath quickly, letting Lucy know that she was crushing his ribs. The hold let up and Gray smiled as he petted Lucy's hair. "Yeah. I'm back, Luce."

"I missed you!" she wailed.

"I missed you too."

Just as Lucy let go of him, he was caught off guard by another flying tackle, this time by a certain bluenette. Once again, Natsu caught him and helped him stay on his feet. Gray was pretty sure his face was on fire if the heat in his cheeks were any indication.

"Gray!" Levy cried as she hugged him. Gray smiled and pulled her close.

"Hey, Levy. How were things while I was gone?"

"Sting-san was nice, but he wasn't you."

Gray hummed in acknowledgement and the two drew apart. "Speaking of him," he began, "does anyone know what happened to him?"

Natsu piped up from behind him. "I got a text from Rogue this morning saying that Dragon Slayer Corp hired Sting. He was on our high school wrestling team and apparently had still been going to the gym regularly, so he passed the physical exam with flying colours."

"That's great," Lucy beamed.

Someone cleared their throat from the reception desk. Gray looked up and was pleased to find both his best friend and his older brother.

"Loke! Lyon!"

The oldest of them all crossed the distance between him and Gray in a matter of seconds and pulled him into a quick hug.

"It's good to have you back, little brother."

"It's good to be back, big brother."

Loke was last to greet him. Playing it cool, he offered his fist out. Gray grinned as he bumped fists with his best friend.

"Welcome back, Gray. Things weren't the same without you."

Gray grinned back at him. "Glad to _be_ back, Loke."

All the hellos completed, he turned to the rest of them. "Come on guys, Fantasia is in two weeks! Get to work!"

The group laughed and gave him a mock salute. "Yes, boss!"

* * *

 **Thoughts? Feedback is great, as usual! See you next time! Happy Holidays!**

 **And yes, I'm quite aware that this would probably almost never happen in real life. Ssshhh just roll with it.**


	12. No

**Ah, sorry for the wait guys! Here's the next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

"Gray! I have documents that need your signature!"

"Send them up to my office!"

"Gray-shachou! The workers are on the phone and they need to ask you something!"

"Defer them to Lyon! If they really need me, then Lyon will send the call up!"

"Shachou! The marketing department wants to see you!"

"If it's about the billboard for Fantasia, tell them that it's already been finalized and the design is already on its way to the advertising company!"

Gray groaned into his arms as he slumped down onto his desk. Natsu and Lyon stifled their laughter.

"Stop laughing at me, Lyon!" Gray grumbled without heat. "You should be doing your work too instead of standing there and watching me suffer."

Lyon raised an eyebrow pointedly. "I'm finished most of my work. You just need to approve it all."

Gray groaned again and this time, Natsu let out a full blown laugh. The raven glared at his bodyguard.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just… your face!" Natsu gasped out between laughs.

"That's it, out!" Gray shouted, hiding his red cheeks. Lyon and Natsu both laughed on their way out of his office.

Gray sighed as he looked over the first report on his desk. A few minutes later, he put it back down, a frustrated expression on his face. With a shout, he slammed his head on his desk. Instantly, his office door was thrown open, a frantic looking Natsu appearing in the doorway.

"Gray! What was that?!"

"Nothing, Natsu," Gray responded, still not having lifted his head. "Go for lunch with Lyon."

The rosette looked at him skeptically. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Just bring me back something, will you?"

"Sure. Anything you want in particular, Ice Princess?"

"Whatever is fine, Flame Brain."

* * *

Half an hour passed before Gray received his next visitor. The raven groaned into his desk, not having moved since Natsu had left.

"Gray? Is this why you didn't come to lunch?" a familiar voice asked.

Gray looked up from his desk. "Lucy," he greeted.

"What's wrong? You're not good at paperwork, but you're not _this_ slow," the blonde said.

Gray pushed himself off of his desk and leaned back into his chair. He quickly looked around the room. "You promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Of course," Lucy said, her interesting piquing.

"I haven't done any of my paperwork because… I keep getting distracted."

"By what?"

"…Natsu."

Lucy barely managed to contain her squeal and fought to keep her tone neutral. "But he left for lunch thirty minutes ago with Lyon."

Gray groaned. "I know! But when he's here I can't concentrate! I thought sending him out would fix it but I just keep thinking about him!"

"What do you think about?"

"I think about how he's kind and caring and funny and he's comforting and feels safe and he's serious about his work and it's admirable and…yeah," Gray deadpanned the last word, realising what he sounded like.

Lucy giggled. "It sounds like you've got a crush, Gray."

Dead silence.

"I've got a _what_?!" he yelled.

Lucy continued to giggle and squeal. "Aww, Gray you've finally got your first crush!"

"I do _not_ have a crush on Natsu of all people, Lucy!" Gray shouted, his cheeks red.

Lucy grinned and poked his cheek. "Your cheeks are red, Gray. You know that's your tell."

Gray merely grumbled and hid his face in his desk. Lucy clapped with joy. "Oh you two are so cute! When are you going to ask him out?"

"I'm not going to ask anyone out!" Gray shouted indignantly. "Besides, Natsu doesn't like me like that," he continued.

"How do you know?"

"I just know, okay, Lucy?"

"You never know until you try, Gray," Lucy said gently.

"I won't, Lucy… I _can't_. He deserves somebody better than me."

"Gray… no one blames you for what happened."

"Maybe you guys don't, but I do. I won't do it, Lucy," Gray said firmly as he sat up and moved for a piece of paper. Lucy wordlessly handed it over to him.

* * *

Natsu and Lyon returned from lunch ten minutes later, but Gray felt like they had come back all too soon. He could still feel the residual heat in his cheeks.

Naturally, Natsu caught on instantly.

"Gray, are you ok? Did something happen while I was gone? Do you have a fever?" he asked while touching his forehead to Gray's. The raven turned blushed beet red and stammered,

"N-No… everything's fine. How was lunch?"

Natsu still didn't pull away, and instead opened his eyes and gave him a blinding smile. "Lunch was fine. Lyon decided not to be insufferable and we actually talked a bit. Lyon brought you back some food, since he said you probably hadn't gotten any while we were gone."

"Natsu chose everything, so if there's something not to your taste, blame him," Lyon said as he placed the food on his brother's desk. Gray surveyed the food in front of him. It wasn't what he usually ordered at lunch. He raised his eyebrow questioningly but took a bite of the food regardless.

"It's delicious…" Gray noted, surprised. Natsu sent a smug grin in Lyon's direction while the silver haired man huffed in annoyance. Gray felt a warm feeling settle in his chest at the thought that Natsu paid attention to what he liked to eat. Gray tensed when he felt someone's eyes on him. Predictably, the gaze belonged to Natsu.

"W-what?" he asked.

"Are you sure you're ok? Your cheeks are red," the bodyguard asked, his words laced with concern.

"I'm fine! I just need to go to the bathroom!" Gray shouted as he stood abruptly from his chair and made a beeline for the exit. Everyone watched him go with varying emotions: Natsu with confusion, Lyon with suspicion, and Lucy with giddiness.

"Well?" Lucy pressed, leaning over the table, staring Natsu in the eye. "You know that you like him. Why don't you ask him out?"

"It's not that simple, Lucy," Natsu answered, running a hand through his hair.

"Why not?" Lucy demanded.

"What are your intentions towards my brother, Salamander?" Lyon hissed.

Natsu rolled his eyes as he addressed Lucy. "For one, an overprotective older brother."

"Lyon! Gray hasn't ever been in a relationship and he never will be if you threaten every one of his prospective partners!" Lucy scolded.

"It's Vastia-fukushachou at work! And there's no one in the world good enough for Gray!" Lyon huffed.

"That's the second thing," Natsu said sadly, looking down. Lucy and Lyon immediately sobered.

"Natsu…" Lucy started. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the words, only to find none.

Lyon crossed his arms. "If there was any chance of my approval, you've lost it now, Natsu Dragneel."

"Eh?" the younger two chorused.

"Gray deserves someone who accepts and understands him and will cherish him for who he is. He also deserves someone who isn't going into this with half-assed feelings that can be deterred with just a few words!"

"Lyon…" Lucy breathed.

"I told you, it's Vastia-fukushachou!"

"You're right, Lyon," Natsu interrupted, just before the two were about to quarrel. Gray's older brother looked up and met Natsu's gaze. Instead of the indecision that he had seen in the green hues earlier, fierce determination blazed in them.

Lyon nodded. "Of course I'm right. That still doesn't mean I approve though."

Lucy rolled her eyes and pushed her palm into his cheek, causing the eldest to squawk indignantly. "Don't listen to him, Natsu. He's just being a poor sport because he likes to mother hen Gray. Go for it!"

"…You know what, Lucy? I might just do that," Natsu replied with a soft smile.

Lucy beamed and flashed him a thumbs up while Lyon sulked.

"But having said that… how am I going to ask him?! I've never asked someone out before!"

Lucy and Lyon groaned in unison.

* * *

Gray splashed water on himself as he struggled to regain his composure. This was embarrassing. A kind gesture or two from Natsu and suddenly he was reduced to a blushing school girl. He sighed. Thinking back, he had never had a relationship back in high school or university. He had been asked out on several occasions, but had never said yes. Covering his face with his hands, he groaned.

When he righted himself, he was determined. He had never said yes to a relationship with anyone and no matter how happy he was around Natsu and how at ease the rosette made him feel, Natsu would be no exception to that rule.

It was better this way.

Natsu would be safe this way.

* * *

A week later, Natsu and Gray were at the orphanage again. The rosette had seen just how hard Gray had been working this past week and had all but dragged him out of his office to relax. And he had been right. The stress on Gray's face washed away immediately when he laid eyes on the kids. Of course, the same could be said for them, as they saw their "Gray-niichan" heading up the path.

Natsu was watching Gray play with the kids when Mirajane came up beside him.

"How have you been, Natsu?" the platinum blonde asked pleasantly.

"Well enough. It's Gray that's been having it rough. Fantasia is in a week and he's looked like he hasn't gotten any sleep."

"Fantasia is very special to Gray, just like it is to everyone else at Fairy Tail. Gray throws himself wholeheartedly into his work."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed with a fond smile. "That's one of the things I lo—" He cut himself off, his normally tan skin now as pale as Gray's. But Mirajane only smiled.

"I've known about your feelings for Gray for a while now, Natsu. I only wanted to hear confirmation. Do you love him, Natsu?"

The bodyguard's eyes softened as he stared ahead at the unknowing raven. "Yeah. I think I do."

"Then please take care of him. Not just for me, but for all of his friends. Heaven knows Gray won't do it himself."

"Haha, I'll do my best, Mira. Thank you."

"No, Natsu. Thank _you_."

* * *

Natsu stood in front of the car as he waited for Gray to finish saying his goodbyes to the kids. He took a deep breath. After talking to Mira, he had made up his mind to confess. His stomach felt like it was in knots as he watched Gray walk back to him, each step causing a new knot.

"Sorry. Did I keep you waiting long?"

"N-not at all," Natsu responded, cursing when he heard his own stutter.

Gray caught it and frowned. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Just fine," Natsu squeaked, and again cursed.

Gray's eyes narrowed and Natsu gulped. It shouldn't have made Gray look more attractive, but his stupid brain and heart weren't listening to him, both of them running in overdrive.

"Your cheeks are red, Natsu. Do you have a fever?"

"No… look, Gray. I… uhh… need to tell you something."

The raven looked confused and crossed his arms. "Sure. Go ahead."

Natsu cleared his throat, his eyes darting around nervously. "Umm… so… we're friends, right?"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

"Right well… I think you're a really great guy to be friends with. You're smart, kind and compassionate. You're easy to talk to and I forget that I'm getting paid to guard you sometimes. It feels just like I'm hanging out with a friend. A best friend."

"Natsu…"

"But… I don't want to be friends. Heck I don't want to be _best_ friends."

The colour drained from Gray's face. "What are you…?"

"Gray Fullbuster…" Natsu gulped before steeling himself and determinedly looking Gray in the eyes, seeing the shock swimming in his azure orbs. "Will you go out with me?"

Gray stumbled back.

Impossible.

He was dreaming.

He _had_ to be.

There was _no way_ that Natsu was…

But clear as day, the rosette was standing in front him, looking more uncomfortable and nervous than he had ever seen him. Gray continued to back away and Natsu advanced, looking concerned.

"Gray?"

The raven slowly shook his head.

" _No_. No I won't."

* * *

 **Please don't kill me just yet XD You won't be able to find out what happens next if you do! Leave me a review if you have time! Until next time! :)**


	13. Regret

**Hey~ Sorry for the wait guys. University is a killer. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

"Gray, I need to grab some documents from the library. I'll be back soon."

"Ah, wait up, Levy. I'll come with you," Gray offered as he fell in step with the petite bluenette. The two walked in silence, before Gray coughed awkwardly. "So what documents are you looking for?"

"Past marketing reports after Fantasia. I was curious about how much Fantasia really does for our company and I know better to ask the marketing team for information. With Fantasia only two days away, I'd like to have a projection of how much we can expect to earn."

Gray laughed. "You've got that right."

The two laughed softly and entered the library. They browsed in between the bookshelves in silence before Levy looked up worriedly at her employer. "Gray… about Natsu…"

Gray sighed as he closed his eyes.

* * *

 _"No?"_ _Natsu asked._

 _"No."_

 _"I see," the rosette said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. The sound made Gray's chest constrict._

* * *

"I don't want to talk about it, Levy." Gray's lips were pressed into a thin line.

But Levy wouldn't take no for an answer. "But Gray, why didn't you give him a chance! You two were happy together, I saw it!"

"Levy, we aren't talking about this here," Gray sighed. "Or ever."

"Gray!" Levy insisted.

"I said no, Levy!"

Suddenly, a loud smack was heard from the other side of the bookshelf. Both of them turned just in time to see the bookshelf begin to fall over, threatening to crush them. Gray, thinking fast, pushed Levy to the side as hard as he could. The secretary landed safely away from the bookshelf, but Gray wasn't as lucky. The bookshelf came crashing on top of him, bringing down years worth of reports and books with it. Levy shook as she dug through the pile, searching for her friend. A small crowd formed and began to assist Levy in her task.

When they managed to dig out their boss, Levy was horrified to find a trail of blood trickling down Gray's forehead. The raven himself was unconscious, which didn't serve to assuage her worries. Trembling, she ordered someone to call for an ambulance.

* * *

"Natsu Dragneel, get over here!" Laxus roared as he slammed down his phone. The rosette walked in, looking nervous.

"Look, Laxus, I'm sorry I ate your bread, but I was really hungry and it looked really good and—"

"That was _you_?!" Laxus exclaimed. Then he shook his head. "Never mind the fucking bread! Do you have any idea who I just got off the phone with?"

"Uhh… no?" Natsu asked hesitantly.

"Lyon Vastia," Laxus hissed.

"Umm… do you… uhh, know him or something?" Natsu asked nervously.

"Natsu fucking Dragneel what were you thinking, leaving your post like that?! Thanks to you, your client is in the hospital!"

The world seemed to freeze around Natsu.

"Gray's… what?"

"In the hospital, Natsu. The _hospital_!"

"Is he… is he…?"

"He's fine, for now. But he took a nasty hit to the head. But that wouldn't be the case if you had been there! Do you have any idea what you just did to Dragon Slayer Corp's reputation?!"

"Laxus… let me go there and take the job again. I won't quit no matter what! Please! I need to make it up to Gray!" Natsu implored, ignoring Laxus' concerns.

"Then get your ass over there, Dragneel!" the blond shouted.

Natsu nodded quickly before racing out of the room.

He had screwed up.

 _Bad_.

He could only hope that he could fix the mess that he created for himself.

* * *

Natsu drove like a demon to the hospital, going over the speed limit by just enough that he didn't get caught. When he arrived in the parking lot, only to find that it was full, he swore up a storm.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of driving around, he managed to locate a parking spot. He wasted no time as he parked his car and practically flew into the building. Out of breath, he slammed his hands on the reception desk, scaring the daylights out of the nurse.

"Which room is Gray Fullbuster in?!" he demanded. The nurse nervously looked through the patient directory.

"Mr. Fullbuster is c-currently in t-the ER," she stammered out.

" _The ER?!_ " Natsu shouted. "I was told that he was ok!"

"He w-will be, he merely r-required stitches…"

" _Stitches?!_ "

"What are _you_ doing here?" a voice shouted. Natsu turned just in time to catch a fist flying towards his face. The nurse that Natsu had been talking to squeaked before she stuttered out,

"Umm… c-could you please refrain from violence here… t-this is a hospital…" Both men turned to look at her, causing her to jump nervously. A colleague came up behind her and sighed.

"Geez Wendy, you need to be more confident! You should learn something from Sheria."

"Sorry Carla," Wendy replied.

"Anyway, you're on break now, so why don't you go get something to eat." Wendy nodded and left for the staff room. The new nurse, Carla, turned to Lyon and Natsu.

"I don't know what this is about, but this is a hospital. We don't need fighting in here, and I will ask security to escort you both outside if you cannot behave like civilized human beings."

Lyon and Natsu glared at each other before Lyon pulled back. Natsu gave him one more hard stare before turning to Carla.

"Please, can I go to see Gray Fullbuster?"

Lyon snarled from behind him. "You have a lot of nerve, Dragneel. You have no right to see him."

Natsu turned to face him. "That may be true. I know I made a mistake. It was the worst thing I've ever done. I just want the chance to apologise. If after that, he doesn't want to see me, I'll understand."

Lyon seemed to study him before turning. "Follow me."

* * *

 _"No?" Natsu asked._

 _"No."_

 _"I see," the rosette said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. The sound made Gray's heart constrict._

 _"Natsu… I…"_

 _"Gray. It's ok. Really. But… I don't know if I can do this."_

 _Gray pursed his lips together as he tried to ignore the empty feeling in his chest. "What do you mean?"_

 _"I'll still guard you. But I can't guarantee that I'll be able to get rid of my feelings for you." Even as he said this, Natsu looked like he was being forced to drink poison. Gray felt his heart ache at the sight._

 _"…Would it be easier if you didn't see me?" the raven asked quietly._

 _Natsu sighed. "Isn't that always the case?"_

 _"In that case… Natsu, you can leave. I'll get another bodyguard. It'll be fine."_

 _"Gray, you don't need to do this. It's fine."_

 _Gray put his hand on Natsu's chest. "I want to. You've done so much for me. It's really the least I can do. Be free, Natsu. Forget about me."_

* * *

Gray groaned as the memory replayed in his head. Just thinking hurt, and combined with the storm of emotions he was currently feeling, today just wasn't his day. He sighed.

"Stop it, Fullbuster. You have no right to be feeling this way after you were the one who pushed him away," he mused to himself as he stared at the wall in front of him. "Besides, he wouldn't want you if he knew everything about you."

Just then, the door to the ER opened. Gray turned and opened his mouth to ask Lyon about the water he had asked about, only to find himself face-to-face with the man that he had just been thinking about.

"Natsu… he breathed." The rosette seemed to freeze in his tracks.

"Gray…" he whispered. Immediately, Natsu crossed the room and pulled Gray into a tight hug. the raven, flustered, awkwardly patted Natsu's back.

"Hey hey, it's ok. I'm fine. No big deal."

"That's not the point!" Natsu shouted so loudly that even Lyon jumped. He pulled back and gripped Gray's shoulders tightly, his eyes never leaving the new scar on Gray's forehead. "I never should have left you by yourself, no matter what I felt. God I'm _so sorry_ , Gray. It's my fault you're here. Can you forgive me?"

"Natsu… you didn't do anything wrong. If anything, it's my own fault for not being more careful."

"You and I both know that's not true, Gray. If I was there with you, you wouldn't have to worry about being so careful."

Gray sighed as he peeked over Natsu's shoulder to address Lyon.

"Lyon, can you give us a second please?" The silverette grudgingly obliged and left the room.

* * *

"Natsu…"

"No. Don't say it, Gray. Please, if not for your sake, then for mine. Let me do what I do best and _protect you_."

Gray ran a hand through his hair. "I can't ask you to do this, Natsu. You said it yourself. This will hurt you."

"It'll hurt me more knowing that you're at risk because you don't have anyone to watch out for you."

"I can always hire someone else." Natsu snarled as Gray finished his sentence, causing Gray to look up at him in surprise.

"First off, we both know that's not going to happen. You didn't even come to me the first time of your own free will. Erza was the one to approach me. Second of all, you won't know the competency of whoever you hire. You don't have the connections to find out and the company you go to definitely won't be honest with you. Thirdly…" At this, the bodyguard trailed off. Gray looked up at him curiously.

"Natsu?"

"Thirdly… the thought of someone else spending so much time with you… getting to see you and get to know you in the way that I have… makes me sick to my stomach." The rosette looked up, a fire in his eyes and he fixed Gray with a determined stare.

"I don't want anyone else to know you in the way that I have. I know that's selfish when I'm not even your boyfriend, but that's just the way I feel."

Gray remained silent as he stared into Natsu's eyes. Natsu grasped the raven's hands in his.

"Please, Gray. I won't do a thing. We can carry on like I never said anything to you at the orphanage. I just want to be able to know that you're alright. Just like a friend would. Will you let me have this?"

There was a long silence before Gray finally spoke.

"You're sure you're fine with this?"

"Positive."

"In that case… welcome back, Natsu," Gray said as he offered his bodyguard a smile. The rosette grinned back happily.

"Thanks, Gray! I swear you won't regret this!"

Gray forced his smile to stay intact. _I already am, Natsu,_ he thought. _You have no idea._

* * *

 **And that's that! Look forward to the next chapter guys! It's gonna be a longer one :) Leave me a review if you have time!**


	14. It's a Small World

**It's been a long time guys! Sorry for that :) This semester was hellish *shudders*. Here's the next chapter!**

 **Don't own 'em.**

 **Read and Review!**

* * *

Gray sighed from his hospital bed. Honestly, he felt fine, but Natsu insisted on fussing over him. He only had two days until Fantasia and his bodyguard insisted on confining him to this prison. He had protested as much as he could with the rosette, only to be met with a stony look.

"I left you alone for a few days and you immediately got admitted to the hospital! You're not leaving this bed unless it's a matter of life or death!"

The doctors seemed to be more than happy to release Gray, only to be met with a death glare from Natsu.

Thus landing him in his current predicament.

And boy was he sick of it.

* * *

Gray had managed to sneak a discharge and was halfway down the hallway when someone cleared their throat behind him. Gray jolted in surprise before slowly turning to his bodyguard, who seemed to be exuding a menacing aura, nervously.

"Y-yo Natsu," he greeted.

"Hello, Gray."

"Fancy running into you here."

"Quite the coincidence," Natsu agreed, his menacing aura growing stronger. Gray shrunk back.

"L-listen, Natsu. It's not what it looks like…"

"Pray tell, what is it then, Gray?"

"I was just uhh… grabbing a cup of water! Yeah, that's it."

"Why didn't you ask me or a nurse to do it for you?"

Gray sighed. The jig was up. "I'm sick of sitting here, Natsu. I'm going to go crazy. I'll be fine. You're here, right?"

Natsu sighed. "You've already discharged yourself, so it's not like I can do much at this point. Come on, I'll drive you home."

Gray breathed out a sigh of relief, only to be stopped cold when Natsu put his hand on his shoulder, gripping painfully tightly.

"Don't think you're not in trouble with me, Gray," he said sweetly. "You're in for it when we get back to your place."

Gray shuddered at the thought of what was to come.

* * *

When Gray returned home, he was immediately tackled into a hug by a certain cat.

"Gray! I missed you!" Happy shouted as he burrowed himself into Gray chest. The raven laughed lightly before running his hand over Happy's fur comfortingly.

"Sorry, Happy. Some things came up."

"But are you better now? Natsu said you got hurt!"

Gray glared accusingly at the rosette, who only shrugged unapologetically. "I didn't want to lie to Happy."

The raven sighed and rubbed the cat's head. "I'm fine now, Happy."

"You'll tell me next time you get into trouble, right Gray?" the cat pleaded.

Gray averted his gaze to the side. While he didn't want to make any promises, he felt guilty about worrying Happy. So he forced a smile and replied, "Yeah. Of course."

He saw Natsu give him a skeptical look from the corner of his eye, but only raised an eyebrow at him in return. Thankfully, Natsu took the hint and kept quiet.

Happy was still in Gray's arms, refusing to be separated from him, when Natsu abruptly picked Gray up bridal style. The raven spluttered in his arms.

"N-Natsu! What are you doing?!"

"This is part of your punishment!" Natsu grinned mischievously.

"Wha?!"

"Onward!"

"Natsu!"

* * *

"Aww, Gray I'm sorry!" Natsu said, sounding completely insincere.

Gray huffed from where he sat on his bed. "That's not going to cut it, Natsu."

"What if I bought you takeout?"

"I can do that by myself."

"What if I cleaned the place up?"

"You're supposed to help out, if you're living with me!"

" _Pleaseeee_ , Gray?"

He was met with silence for his efforts.

The rosette pouted before an idea occurred to him. Gray seemed to sense that Natsu had changed tactics and turned to glance at him.

"Natsu?"

Immediately, Natsu pounced on the raven, pinning him to the bed. Before Gray could demand what Natsu was doing, the bodyguard was tickling his sides, causing Gray to burst out laughing.

"N-Natsu! St-ah-stop!" he laughed.

"Not until you forgive me!" Natsu teased as he continued to tickle the raven into submission.

"F-fine! Fine! Just—haha— stop it!" Gray managed between his laughs. Natsu stopped and pinned Gray to the bed, grinning cheekily. Gray tried to glare up at him, but the pout on his lips ruined the effect. Natsu gulped, realising the position they were in. Gray stopped as well, staring up at Natsu with an unreadable expression.

"Natsu?" he asked softly. The rosette gulped and held back every instinct screaming at him to kiss the man underneath him. Instead, he climbed off and looked away, his cheeks shining bright red. Gray sat up, blushing as well and averted his gaze. For a second, he had almost gave into his desire and kissed Natsu himself. But that wouldn't be fair to Natsu.

"S-Sorry," Natsu stammered out, still not meeting Gray's eyes.

The raven exhaled deeply as he tried to rein in his frantic emotions and calm his nerves. "It's ok. Come on, let's grab some lunch."

* * *

The day before Fantasia, Gray went out with Natsu to check on the last few details before the event. Just as he was checking the lights, he was alerted to someone's presence behind him. Natsu was immediately behind him, glaring into the dark.

"Who's there?" he growled out.

"Relax, Natsu-kun. It's Makarov Dreyar."

"Jii-san!" Gray said, surprised. The old man walked into the light and raised a hand in greeting before adopting a concerned expression.

"Hello, Gray. How's your injury?"

"All healed. How've you been, jii-san?"

"My goodness. Between you and the company, you're going to send me to an early grave!" he laughed.

Gray frowned. "Don't say that, jii-san."

Makarov coughed into his fist. "Right. Well I need to speak with you in private, Gray, if Natsu-kun doesn't mind."

Natsu hesitated before glancing back to Gray uncertainly. The raven nodded and Natsu reluctantly moved out of earshot.

Makarov smiled up at his pseudo-grandson.

"He's very protective of you, isn't he?"

Gray turned to glance at the bodyguard before turning his attention back on Makarov. "Yeah, he is. I know it's his job, but sometimes it's a bit much. Especially after I got hurt."

"Do you dislike it?" Makarov asked, studying Gray's expression.

"…I don't hate it," Gray admitted.

The old man grinned. "Do you have feelings for him, Gray?"

"J-jii-san!"

Makarov laughed. "Come now, Gray. I've known and raised you since you were nine! I would think that I know how to tell if you've got romantic feelings for somebody!"

"...Am I that obvious?"

"Only to an old man, Gray. But Natsu-kun clearly likes you as well, doesn't he?"

"Yeah… he confessed a few days ago."

"But you're not together," Makarov noted.

"No."

The old man frowned. "Why not, Gray?"

"You know why, jii-san," Gray said, looking pained. He wrung his hands and stared at them. "If… if he knew what I'd done…"

Makarov sighed. "If that boy really loves you, Gray, which I think he does, he'll accept you and who you are. Not who you were. Isn't it time to let yourself be happy for once?"

"Murderers don't deserve to be happy, jii-san."

Makarov sighed unhappily. "It doesn't matter how many years go by. You still can't believe me when I tell you that it wasn't your fault. You were six when it happened the first time and eight when it happened the second. What could you have done?"

Gray had to remain silent. He never had an answer when Makarov brought up this point, but it never did anything to assuage his guilt.

Makarov sighed before pulling Gray down and giving him a short hug. "Give it a chance, Gray. Maybe he can help. You never know. Don't wait until someone steals him away from you."

Gray pursed his lips as Makarov turned towards Natsu. "Natsu-kun?"

The bodyguard returned. "Natsu is fine."

Makarov grinned. "Natsu it is then. Please take care of Gray for me."

Gray spluttered indignantly. It sounded way too much like Makarov was marrying him off or something. Natsu, uncharacteristically serious, only nodded. Makarov nodded in turn and turned away.

"Well, that's all I had to talk to you about, Gray. I'll be here tomorrow, watching over things. I'm looking forward to it!"

"I won't disappoint you, jii-san!" Gray called after him.

Makarov smiled to himself. "You never have."

* * *

Gray woke up feeling excited. Today was the day he had spent the last month organizing, planning, and envisioning. But more than that, this event held a special place in Gray's heart. It was Ur's legacy and his childhood dreams, all in one celebration. He was up and about hours before Natsu. The rosette entered the kitchen to find himself faced with a hearty breakfast and a raven awaiting him so anxiously that it was cute.

"Good morning, Gray," Natsu said slowly, taking a seat at the table. The raven was practically bouncing on his heels as he watched Natsu eat.

"Natus, hurry up! We need to get to Fantasia!"

The rosette laughed and quickly finished the rest of his meal. "We're leaving, Happy!"

"Aye! Bring me back a fish!"

The two men laughed and made their way out.

* * *

Natsu had expected things to be quiet because it was early, but he was sorely mistaken. He had been to Fantasia when he was younger, but never as early as he was now. When he went as a kid, it was always well into the day, and hence, extremely crowded. But even at eight in the morning, there were already small crowds of people walking around the event grounds and families setting up picnic blankets near the main stage.

Natsu whistled. "Damn. There are more people than I thought would be here so early in the morning."

Gray grinned. "Of course. You clearly underestimate the power of Fairy Tail."

"I would never," Natsu said sarcastically, making Gray laugh. The sound was music to Natsu's ears. He swore his face was flushed the rest of the time they took to find a parking spot.

Just when he had parked his car, ten different people immediately rushed forward, screaming for Gray. Natsu tensed immediately before realising that they were all his staff. Gray on the other hand, instantly sprang into action, unbuckling his seatbelt and exiting the car, all while dealing with the problems his staff were throwing his way. Natsu allowed himself a moment to be amazed before following.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to Fairy Tail's 21st annual Fantasia celebration!" Lucy announced, waving and smiling wide for the crowd. The children immediately rushed forward, cheering happily.

"Before we begin our toy presentations, a quick word from our vice president, Lyon Vastia!" she said as she gestured towards the right of the stage.

The silverette took the microphone from Lucy and smiled for the crowd. "Thank you. On behalf of Fairy Tail…"

* * *

"Hey Gray, how come Lyon's the one doing the speech? Shouldn't it be you?" Natsu asked. He and Gray were situated backstage, at the sides, where they could see everything that was happening.

Gray shrugged. "I'm not a fan of all the attention, so I get Lyon to do it for me. He does all the press conferences and handles the media too."

Natsu frowned. "But you worked really hard on this, Gray. You should at least show everyone the face of the man who made all of this happen."

"It'd be weird to break tradition now. I've never shown myself as the president of Fairy Tail during Fantasia," the president sighed. "Besides, I doubt that that's what's on people's minds when they come here. Just relax, Natsu. Today is supposed to be fun."

"Yeah…" Natsu agreed, already formulating an idea in his head.

* * *

"Psst, Lucy! Lyon!"

"What is it Natsu?"

"I have an idea and I need your help to make it work. I need you to hold off on the next showcase. Just for a little bit."

"What?! Salamander, do you have _any idea_ how important this is to Gray?!"

"I _know_ , you overprotective brother. That's why I want to get him the proper acknowledgment he deserves."

"…What do you have in mind?"

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could please have your attention," Lucy said, after Wakaba had returned backstage after his performance. Gray raised his eyebrow. This wasn't scheduled. Gray was about to frantically motion to Lucy, when Lyon put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lyon…?"

"We know this isn't part of our normal Fantasia performance," Lucy said, seeing the confusion on some people's faces. "But we'd like to take a moment to introduce to you the man behind this event. Year after year, he works on bringing you the best of the best! He's a bit shy, so you'll have to excuse him for not showing himself earlier," Lucy winked. "Here he is, our president, Gray Fullbuster!"

Gray stood frozen on the side. He turned to Lyon, betrayal evident on his face. "Lyon, how could you!"

His older brother smiled. "Come on, Gray. Can't you hear them?" Gray strained himself to listen to what was happening outside.

"Gray! Gray! Gray! Gray!"

"They're… chanting my name…"

"That's right. You don't want to let them down, do you?"

"But Lyon… I don't know what to say to them."

"Just introduce yourself and thank them for coming. It's not like it's a big thing."

"That's right!" Natsu's voice piped up from his other side. The rosette's hand came to rest on his free shoulder. "Like you said, today's all about having fun. So get out there and have some fun, Gray!" With that, he gave Gray a light shove, enough to send him stumbling onstage. The raven regained his balance, mortified as he stared into the crowd.

But the kids were having none of it. They immediately stared cheering and chanting his name.

"Gray-niichan! Gray-niichan!"

The raven gulped but managed to turn and address the audience. "H-Hello, I'm Gray Fullbuster and I'm the president of Fairy Tail Corp. I'd like to thank—"

"Ehh, it's Gray-niichan!" a voice called out.

Gray looked up sharply. "Tammy?"

"Gray-niichan!" the girl called out as she began to run up the stage, the other children from the orphanage following behind her. Soon, Gray was surrounded by a swarm of little orphans.

"Whoa! Guys, you came?"

"Of course, Gray-niichan! Mira-neechan said this was important to you and you were working super hard on it, like that picture I drew for you!" Tammy said. "So we all came to see you!"

"Guys…" Gray started, choking on his emotions. He had never expected these children to come to Fantasia and he had no idea that he would react this strongly. Wordlessly, he brought them all into a close hug. "Thank you guys so much. I'm so happy you're here."

The kids all grinned up at him, until they saw his tears. "Why are you crying, Gray-niichan?" Luke asked.

Gray wiped away his tears, determined to save some face. "I'm just happy, that's all. Now all of you need to run back to Mira, ok?" he laughed.

"Yes, Gray-niichan," they chorused as they hopped off the stage.

Gray straightened when he saw that all of the kids had been reunited with Mira, who only gave him a soft smile. "Sorry for the interruption," Gray began, only to be met with cheers and applause. He froze, shocked. Amidst the crowd, he could pick up on a few of the parents' comments.

"Anyone who cares that much about children, I can support as the head of a toy company."

"To be working so hard at such a young age is truly admirable!"

"Those kids really love him. I'm tearing up a little myself!"

Gray stood there numbly and turned to the side, where Lucy, Natsu, and Lyon were all encouraging him. The raven turned back to the audience and smiled.

"On behalf of Fairy Tail Corp, I'd like to thank you for coming out to Fantasia today. We appreciate your continued support and will continue to strive for the best for the future generation. Thank you again. Now, I'd like to introduce our next product: a pen that can write in 3-D!"

After Gray gave Natsu a friendly punch for making him go out there, he gave the rosette a quick hug to thank him. Natsu had frozen in surprise only to warmly return the embrace. They continued to watch from the side as toy by toy was featured, much to the delight of the children in the audience.

* * *

When the main showcase was over, Natsu and Gray decided to take a stroll through the event grounds, weaving through booths and games and children alike. More than one or two had stopped to give Gray hugs, much to Natsu's joy. Gray finally got the recognition he deserved for Fantasia.

They had just about reached the end of the grounds when something caught Natsu's eye.

Short platinum blonde hair.

Natsu immediately turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with a petite girl with light blue eyes. His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out.

"It's been a long time, Natsu."

"Li- _Lisanna_."

Gray turned to Natsu, whose face seemed to have drained of all its colour. It was obvious that he knew Lisanna, but how was the question.

"Lisanna, it's been a while. How do you know Natsu?"

The petite girl smiled up at him. "It _has_ been a while, hasn't it, Gray? I'm glad to see you well." She paused and tilted her head to the side and placing her finger on her chin.

"As to how I know Natsu… I'm his ex-girlfriend."

Makarov's words from last night rang through his mind.

 _Don't wait until someone steals him away from you._

Gray turned to Natsu, who still seemed to be frozen. He watched wistfully as the rosette shook himself out of his trance and rushed forward to hug his ex.

 _It looks like it's too late, jii-san._

* * *

 **See you next time! Happy Holidays!**


End file.
